We have carried out an intensive study of the AGN heating-ICM cooling network by comparing various cluster parameters of the HIFLUGCS sample to the integrated radio luminosity of the central AGN, L_R, defined as the total synchrotron power between 10 MHz and 15 GHz. We adopt the central cooling time, t_cool, as the diagnostic to ascertain cooling properties of the clusters and classify clusters with t_cool < 1 Gyr as strong cooling core (SCC) clusters, with 1 Gyr < t_cool <7.7 Gyr as weak cooling core (WCC) clusters and with t_cool > 7.7 Gyr as non-cooling core (NCC) clusters. We find 48 out of 64 clusters (75%) contain cluster center radio sources (CCRS) cospatial with or within 50 h^{-1}_{71} kpc of the X-ray peak emission. Further, we find that the probability of finding a CCRS increases from 45% to 67% to 100% for NCC, WCC and SCC clusters, respectively, suggesting an AGN-feedback machinery in SCC clusters which regulates the cooling in the central regions.
We find L_R in SCC clusters depends strongly on the cluster scale such that more massive clusters harbor more powerful radio AGN. The same trend is observed between L_R and the classical mass deposition rate, MDR, albeit much stronger, in SCC and partly also in WCC clusters. We also perform correlations of the 2MASS K-band luminosity of the brightest cluster galaxy, L_BCG, with L_R and cluster parameters. We invoke the relation between L_BCG and the black hole mass, M_BH, and find a surprisingly tight correlation between M_BH and L_R for SCC clusters. We find also an excellent correlation of L_BCG with M500 and L_X for the entire sample; however, SCC clusters show a tighter trend in both the cases. We discuss the plausible reasons behind these scaling relations in the context of cooling flows and AGN feedback. [Abridged]
We present results from high-resolution Tree+SPH simulations of galaxy clusters and groups, aimed at studying the effect of non-gravitational heating on the entropy of the ICM. We simulate three systems, having emission-weighted temperature T=0.6,1 and 3 keV, with spatial resolution better than 1% of the virial radius. We consider the effect of different prescriptions for non-gravitational ICM heating, such as SN energy feedback, as predicted by semi-analytical models of galaxy formation, and two different minimum entropy floors, S_fl=50 and 100 keV cm^2, imposed at z=3. Simulations with only …
X-ray observations indicate that non-gravitational processes play a key role in the thermodynamics of the Intra Cluster Medium (ICM). The effect of non-gravitational processes is imprinted in the ICM as an entropy minimum, whose effects are visible in the Luminosity-Temperature relation and in the Entropy-Temperature relation. However, the X-ray emission alone cannot discriminate between different mechanisms and sources of heating. There are no answers at present to the following questions: how much non-gravitational energy per baryons is present in the ICM? When was this energy injected? Whic…
We discuss Tree+SPH simulations of galaxy clusters and groups, aimed at studying the effect of cooling and non-gravitational heating on observable properties of the ICM. We simulate at high resolution four halos,with masses in the range (0.2-4)10^{14}M_sol. We discuss the effects of using different SPH implementations and show that high resolution is mandatory to correctly follow the cooling pattern of the ICM. All of our heating schemes which correctly reproduce the X-ray scaling properties of clusters and groups do not succeed in reducing the fraction of collapsed gas below a level of 20 (30…
We have investigated the ram-pressure stripping of disk galaxies in clusters at various redshifts and in cluster progenitors; the clusters grow up on a hierarchical clustering scenario. We consider a radially infalling galaxy whose initial position and velocity are given by a spherical collapse model of structure formation. Moreover, since observations show that the intracluster medium (ICM) of nearby clusters is non-gravitationally heated, we study the effect of the non-gravitational heating on the ram-pressure stripping. For a given redshift, we find that ram-pressure stripping has more infl…
We investigate the non-gravitational heating of hot gas in clusters of galaxies (intracluster medium; ICM) on the assumption that the gas is heated well before cluster formation ('preheating'). We examine the jet activities of radio galaxies as the sources of excess energy in ICM, and the deformation of the cosmic microwave background (the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect) by hot electrons produced at the jet terminal shocks. We show that the observed excess entropy of ICM and {\sl COBE/FIRAS} upper limit for the Compton $y$-parameter are compatible with each other only when the heating by the jets o…
(Abridged) Existing models invoking AGN activty to resolve the cooling flow conundrum in galaxy clusters focus exclusively on the role of the central galaxy. Such models require fine-tuning of highly uncertain microscopic transport properties to distribute the thermal thermal over the entire cluster cooling core. We propose that the ICM is instead heated by multiple, spatially distributed AGNs. There is mounting observational evidence for multiple AGNs in cluster environments. Active AGNs drive bubbles into the ICM. We identify three distinct interactions between the bubble and the ICM: (1) Up…
Results from a large set of hydrodynamical SPH simulations of galaxy clusters in a flat LCDM cosmology are used to investigate the metal enrichment and heating of the ICM. The physical modeling of the gas includes radiative cooling, star formation, energy feedback and metal enrichment that follow from the explosions of SNe of type II and Ia. The metallicity dependence of the cooling function is also taken into account. For a fiducial set of model prescriptions the results indicate radial iron profiles in broad agreement with observations; global iron abundances are also consistent with data. I…
One of the most promising solutions for the cooling flow problem involves energy injection from the central AGN. However it is still not clear how collimated jets can heat the ICM at large scale, and very little is known concerning the effect of radio lobe expansion as they enter into pressure equilibrium with the surrounding cluster gas. Cygnus A is one of the best examples of a nearby powerful radio galaxy for which the synchrotron emitting plasma and thermal emitting intra-cluster medium can be mapped in fine detail, and previous observations have inferred possible shock structure at the lo…
We study the effect of heating and metal enrichment from supernovae (SNe) residing between galaxies on the Intra-Cluster Medium (ICM). Recent observations indicate that a considerable fraction (~20 %) of the SN Ia parent stellar population in galaxy clusters is intergalactic. By considering their effect on the relaxed progenitors of cooling flow clusters we propose that intra-cluster SNe can act as a distributed heating source which may influence the initial stages of the formation of cooling flows. We investigate the increase in cooling time as a function of the energy input supplied by SNe a…
(Abridged) The thermal history of the intracluster medium (ICM) is complex. Heat input from cluster mergers, AGN, and galaxy winds offsets and may even halt the cooling of the ICM. Consequently, the processes that set the properties of the ICM play a key role in determining how galaxies form. In this paper we focus on the shock heating of the ICM during cluster mergers, with the eventual aim of incorporating this mechanism into semi-analytic models of galaxy formation. We use a suite of hydrodynamic simulations to track the evolution of the ICM in idealised two-body mergers. We find the heatin…
There is increasing evidence that some heating mechanism in addition to gravitational shock heating has been important for the hot gas inside clusters and groups of galaxies, as indicated by their observed X-ray scaling properties. While supernovae are the most obvious candidate heating sources, a number of recent studies have suggested that they may be energetically insufficient. Here we consider high-power, FRII radio galaxies and shock heating of the intracluster medium (ICM, including the case of the intergalactic medium prior to cluster formation) by their large-scale jets. Based on the o…
One of the challenges that models of AGN heating of the intracluster medium (ICM) face, is the question how the mechanical luminosity of the AGN is tuned to the radiative losses of the ICM. Here we implement a simple 1D model of a feedback mechanism that links the luminosity of the AGN to the accretion rate. We demonstrate how this simple feedback mechanism leads to a quasi-steady state for a broad range of parameters. Moreover, within this feedback model, we investigate the effect of thermal conduction and find that its relative importance depends strongly on the cluster mass.
The standard cooling flow model has predicted a large amount of cool gas in the clusters of galaxies. The failure of the Chandra and XXM-Newton telescopes to detect cooling gas (below 1-2 keV) in clusters of galaxies has suggested that some heating process must work to suppress the cooling. The most likely heating source is the heating by AGNs. There are many heating mechanisms, but we will adopt the effervescent heating model which is a result of the interaction of the bubbles inflated by AGN with the intra-cluster medium(ICM). Using the FLASH code, we have carried out time dependent simulati…
X-Ray observations of groups and clusters of galaxies show that the Intra-Cluster Medium (ICM) in their cores is hotter than expected from cosmological numerical simulations of cluster formation which include star formation, radiative cooling and SN feedback. We investigate the effect of the injection of supersonic AGN jets into the ICM using axisymmetric hydrodynamical numerical simulations. A simple model for the ICM, describing the radial properties of gas and the gravitational potential in cosmological N-Body+SPH simulations of one cluster and three groups of galaxies at redshift z=0, is o…
A variety of physical heating mechanisms are combined with radiative cooling to explore, via one dimensional hydrodynamic simulations, the expected thermal properties of the intracluster medium (ICM) in the context of the cooling flow problem. Energy injection from type Ia supernovae, thermal conduction, and dynamical friction (DF) from orbiting satellite galaxies are considered. The novel feature of this work is the exploration of a wide range of efficiencies of each heating process. While the latter two can provide a substantial amount of energy, neither mechanism operating alone can produce…
Using three-dimensional hydrodynamic simulations, we investigate heating and turbulence driving in an intracluster medium (ICM) by orbital motions of galaxies in a galaxy cluster. We consider Ng member galaxies on isothermal and isotropic orbits through an ICM typical of rich clusters. An introduction of the galaxies immediately produces gravitational wakes, providing perturbations that can potentially grow via resonant interaction with the background gas. When Ng^{1/2}Mg_11 < 100, where Mg_11 is each galaxy mass in units of 10^{11} Msun, the perturbations are in the linear regime and the reso…
Only ~10% of baryons in the universe are in the form of stars, yet most models of luminous structure formation have concentrated on the properties of the luminous stellar matter. In this paper we focus on the "flip side" of galaxy formation and investigate the properties of the material that is not presently locked up in galaxies. This "by-product" of galaxy formation can be observed as an X-ray emitting plasma (the intracluster medium, hereafter ICM) in groups and clusters, and we present a version of the Durham semi-analytic galaxy formation model GALFORM that allows us to investigate the pr…
Recent X-ray observations of clusters of galaxies have shown that the entropy of the intracluster medium (ICM), even at radii as large as half the virial radius, is higher than that expected from gravitational processes alone. This is thought to be the result of nongravitational processes influencing the physical state of the ICM. In this paper, we investigate whether heating by a central AGN can explain the distribution of excess entropy as a function of radius. The AGN is assumed to inject buoyant bubbles into the ICM, which heat the ambient medium by doing pdV work as they rise and expand. …
We study the feedback between heating and cooling of the intra-cluster medium (ICM) in cooling flow (CF) galaxies and clusters. We adopt the popular view that the heating is due to an active galactic nucleus (AGN), i.e. a central black hole accreting mass and launching jets and/or winds. We propose that the feedback occurs with the entire cool inner region (r <~ 5-30 kpc), where the non-linear over-dense blobs of gas with a density contrast >~2 cool fast and are removed from the ICM before experiencing the next major AGN heating event. We term this scenario "cold-feedback". Some of these blobs…
The crisis of the standard cooling flow model brought about by Chandra and XMM-Newton observations of galaxy clusters, has led to the development of several models which explore different heating processes in order to assess if they can quench the cooling flow. Among the most appealing mechanisms are thermal conduction and heating through buoyant gas deposited in the ICM by AGNs. We combine Virgo/M87 observations of three satellites (Chandra, XMM-Newton and Beppo-SAX) to inspect the dynamics of the ICM in the center of the cluster. Using the spectral deprojection technique, we derive the physi…
X-ray observations indicate that non-gravitational processes play a key role in determining the distribution of the diffuse, X-ray emitting gas in clusters of galaxies (ICM). The effect of non-gravitational processes is imprinted in the ICM as an entropy minimum. Preheating models assume that the entropy minimum is present in the cosmic baryons well before collapse. On the other hand, observations of baryons in Ly_alpha clouds show only a modest extra heating, ruling out the presence of such an entropy plateau in the majority of low-density baryons at high z. The problem is avoided in the inte…
(Abridged) Theoretical models that include only gravitationally-driven processes fail to match the observed mean X-ray properties of clusters. As a result, there has recently been increased interest in models in which either radiative cooling or entropy injection play a central role in mediating the properties of the intracluster medium. Both sets of models give reasonable fits to the mean properties of clusters, but cooling only models result in fractions of cold baryons in excess of observationally established limits and the simplest entropy injection models do not treat the "cooling core" s…
We put forward an alternative view to the Bondi-driven feedback between heating and cooling of the intra-cluster medium (ICM) in cooling flow galaxies and clusters. We adopt the popular view that the heating is due to an active galactic nucleus (AGN), i.e. a central black hole accreting mass and launching jets and/or winds. We propose that the feedback occurs with the entire cool inner region (5-30 kpc). A moderate cooling flow does exist here, and non-linear over-dense blobs of gas cool fast and are removed from the ICM before experiencing the next major AGN heating event. Some of these blobs…
The time scale for cooling of the gravitationally bound gaseous intracluster medium (ICM) is not determined by radiative processes alone. If the ICM is in quasi-hydrostatic equilibrium in the fixed gravitational field of the dark matter halo then energy losses incurred by the gravitational potential energy of the gas should also be taken into account. This "gravitational heating" has been known for a while using explicit solutions to the equations of motion. Here, we re-visit this effect by applying the virial theorem to gas in quasi-hydrostatic equilibrium in an external gravitational field, …
We analyse a hydrodynamical simulation model for the recurrent heating of the central intracluster medium (ICM) by active galactic nuclei (AGN). Besides the self-gravity of the dark matter and gas components, our approach includes the radiative cooling and photoheating of the gas, as well as a subresolution multiphase model for star formation and supernova feedback. Additionally, we incorporate a periodic heating mechanism in the form of hot, buoyant bubbles, injected into the intragalactic medium (IGM) during the active phases of the accreting central AGN. We use simulations of isolated clust…
This paper reports the study of the cold-feedback heating in cooling flow clusters. In the cold-feedback model the mass accreted by the central black hole originates in non-linear over-dense blobs of gas residing in an extended region (r ~ 5-30 kpc); these blobs are originally hot, but then cool faster than their environment and sink toward the center. The intra-cluster medium (ICM) entropy profile must be shallow for the blobs to reach the center as cold blobs. I build a toy model to explore the role of the entropy profile and the population of dense blobs in the cold-feedback mechanism. The …
We present an observation of the radio-galaxy 3C401 and the surrounding intracluster medium (ICM) of its host galaxy cluster by the Chandra X-ray Observatory. This luminous radio-galaxy is notable in that it has characteristics intermediate between the FRI and FRII morphologies. We clearly detect point-like emission coincident with the radio-core of 3C401, although the spatial resolution of even Chandra is only 2kpc at the distance of 3C401 (z=0.201) and so the possibility remains that this is a dense (and rapidly cooling) thermal gaseous core in the center of the ICM atmosphere. Strong depart…
Hydrodynamical SPH simulations of galaxy clusters are used to investigate the metal enrichment of the intracluster medium. The final metallicity abundances of the simulated clusters are determined according to the numerical resolution and a number of model parameters. For a fiducial set of model prescriptions the results of the simulations indicate iron abundances in broad agreement with data. Final X-ray properties are not sensitive to the heating of the ICM. This supports a scenario where the ICM evolution of cool clusters is driven by radiative cooling.
人们普遍认为，宇宙的结构是分层进化的，因为原始的密度波动，被引力放大，崩溃和合并，形成越来越大的系统。然而，X射线星系团的结构和演化，似乎与这种结构形成的层次结构不一致。贫穷的星系团和星系群，以及迄今为止探测到的最遥远的星系团，比这些模型预测的光度、温度和红移之间的紧密关系所预期的要暗得多。在这里，我们表明，这些差异的出现是因为，在中心附近，热的，弥漫的团内介质（ICM）的熵高于$ achievable through gravitational collapse, indicating substantial non-gravitational heating of the ICM. We estimate this excess entropy for the first time, and argue that it represents a relic of the energetic winds through which forming galaxies polluted the ICM with metals. Energetically, this is onl$可能的，如果ICM被加热在适度的红移（$z \ltsim 2$），但之前的集群崩溃，表明星系的形成之前，集群和大多数集群已经组装最近。
We point out that two problems of observational cosmology, the facts i) that > 60% of the baryonic content of the universe is not observed at z=0 and ii) that the properties of small clusters do not agree with simple expectations, could be closely related. As shown by recent studies, the shock-heating associated with the formation of large-scale structures heats the intergalactic medium (IGM) and leads to a ``warm IGM'' component for the gas. In the same spirit, we suggest the intracluster medium (ICM) to be a mixture of galaxy-recycled, metal enriched gas and intergalactic gas, shock-heated b…
We report on spectroscopic imaging observations of the nearby (z=0.022) galaxy cluster 3C 129 performed with the ACIS detector on board of the Chandra X-ray observatory. Applying a deprojection analysis which fully takes into account the spatially resolved X-ray energy spectra we investigate the radial variation of temperature and particle density of the Intracluster Medium (ICM). While earlier data indicated a weak cooling flow and a cool cluster core, the Chandra data suggests that the core is hotter than the rest of the cluster: at the center we infer (7.9+4.4-2.4) keV while the mean temper…
We present results of an attempt to include more detailed gas physics motivated from hydrodynamical simulations within semi-analytic models (SAM) of galaxy formation, focusing on the role that environmental effects play. The main difference to previous SAMs is that we include 'gravitational' heating of the intra-cluster medium (ICM) by the net surplus of gravitational potential energy released from gas that has been stripped from infalling satellites. Gravitational heating appears to be an efficient heating source able to prevent cooling in environments corresponding to dark matter halos more …
We have used deprojected radial density and temperature profiles of a sample of 16 nearby CF clusters observed with XMM-Newton to test whether the effervescent heating model can satisfactorily explain the dynamics of CF clusters. For each cluster we derived the required extra heating as a function of cluster-centric distance for various values of the unknown parameters $\dot M$ (mass deposition rate) and $f_c$ (conduction efficiency). We fitted the extra heating curve using the AGN effervescent heating function and derived the AGN parameters $L$ (the time-averaged luminosity) and $r_0$ (the sc…
Modern hydrodynamical simulations offer nowadays a powerful means to trace the evolution of the X-ray properties of the intra-cluster medium (ICM) during the cosmological history of the hierarchical build up of galaxy clusters. In this paper we review the current status of these simulations and how their predictions fare in reproducing the most recent X-ray observations of clusters. After briefly discussing the shortcomings of the self-similar model, based on assuming that gravity only drives the evolution of the ICM, we discuss how the processes of gas cooling and non-gravitational heating ar…
We present a detailed X-ray study of the intracluster medium (ICM) of the nearby, cool-core galaxy cluster Abell 478, with Chandra and XMM observations. Using a wavelet smoothing hardness analysis, we derive detailed temperature maps of A478, revealing a surprising amount of temperature structure. The broad band Chandra spectral fits yield temperatures which are significantly hotter than those from XMM, but the Fe ionization temperature shows good agreement. We show that the temperature discrepancy is slightly reduced when comparing spectra from regions selected to enclose nearly isothermal ga…
Recent observations show that the cooling flows in the central regions of galaxy clusters are highly suppressed. Observed AGN-induced cavities/bubbles are a leading candidate for suppressing cooling, usually via some form of mechanical heating. At the same time, observed X-ray cavities and synchrotron emission point toward a significant non-thermal particle population. Previous studies have focused on the dynamical effects of cosmic-ray pressure support, but none have built successful models in which cosmic-ray heating is significant. Here we investigate a new model of AGN heating, in which th…
In recent years it has become increasingly clear that Active Galactic Nuclei, and radio-galaxies in particular, have an impact on large scale structure and galaxy formation. In principle, radio-galaxies are energetic enough to halt the cooling of the virialized intracluster medium (ICM) in the inner regions of galaxy clusters, solving the cooling flow problem and explaining the high-mass truncation of the galaxy luminosity function. We explore this process through a series of high resolution, three dimensional hydrodynamic simulations of jetted active galaxies that act in response to cooling-m…
Deep wide-field H$α$+[NII] imaging around the Virgo cluster giant elliptical galaxy M86 reveals a highly complex and disturbed ISM/ICM. The most striking feature is a set of H$α$ filaments which clearly connect M86 with the nearby disturbed spiral NGC 4438 (23$'$=120 kpc projected away), providing strong evidence for a previously unrecognized collision between them. Spectroscopy of selected regions show a fairly smooth velocity gradient between M86 and NGC 4438, consistent with the collision scenario. Such a collision would impart significant energy into the ISM of M86, probably heating the ga…
We investigate the cosmological test based on the evolution of the gas fraction in X-ray galaxy clusters and the stability of the cosmological parameters derived from it. Using a sample of distant clusters observed by XMM-Newton and Chandra, and comparing their gas fraction at different radii to the gas fraction observed for nearby clusters, we have determined the likelihood functions for $Ω_m$ in a flat universe and the confidence contours in the $Ω_m-Ω_Λ$ plane. Results obtained at the virial radius point to a high matter density Universe, while for inner radii the $Ω_m$ parameter obtained t…
The Intra-Cluster Medium (ICM) is a rarefied, hot, highly ionized, metal rich, weakly magnetized plasma. In these proceeding, after having reviewed some basic ICM properties, I discuss recent results obtained with the BeppoSAX, XMM-Newton and Chandra satellites. These results are summarized in the following five points. 1) Currently available hard X-ray data does not allow us to constrain B fields in radio halos, the advent of hard X-ray telescopes in a few years may change the situation substantially. 2) There is mounting evidence that temperature profiles of clusters at large radii decline; …
We analyse those objects in the Brightest 55 sample of clusters of galaxies which have a short central cooling time and a central temperature drop. Such clusters are likely to require some form of heating. Where clear radio bubbles are observed in these clusters, their energy injection is compared to the X-ray cooling rate. Of the 20 clusters requiring heating, at least 14 have clear bubbles, implying a duty cycle for the bubbling activity of at least 70 per cent. The average distance out to which the bubbles can offset the X-ray cooling, r_heat is given by r_heat/r_cool=0.86+/-0.11 where r_co…
Efforts to understand the deviation of the L--T relation from a simple scaling law valid for clusters and groups have triggered a number of interesting studies on the subject. Techniques and approaches differ widely but most works agree on the important role played by gas cooling and heating sources like AGNs and SNe. Observations set useful constraints on the evolution of the intracluster medium (ICM): a 100KeV/cm^2 entropy floor in the core of groups and about 5--15% of baryons being converted into stars. However, essential details like the nature of the dominant heating mechanism and the qu…
We use hydrodynamical simulations of galaxy clusters and groups to study the effect of pre-heating on the entropy structure of the ICM. Our simulations account for non-gravitational heating of the gas either by imposing a minimum entropy floor at redshift z=3, or by considering feedback by galactic winds powered by supernova (SN) energy. In the adiabatic simulations we find that the entropy is increased out to the external regions as a consequence of the transition from clumpy to smooth accretion induced by extra heating. This result is in line with the predictions of the semi-analytical model…
The temperature profile (TP) of the intracluster medium (ICM) is of primeval importance for deriving the dynamical parameters of the largest equilibrium systems known in the universe, in particular their total mass profile. Analytical models of the ICM often assume that the ICM is isothermal or parametrize the TP with a polytropic index. This parameter is ajusted to observations, but has in fact poor physical meaning for values other than 1 or 5/3, when considering monoatomic gases. In this article, I present a theoretical model of a relaxed cluster where the TP is instead structured by electr…
We present an analysis of Chandra observations of the galaxy clusters A2670 and A2107. Their cD galaxies have large peculiar velocities (>200km/s) and thus the clusters appear to be undergoing mergers. In A2670, we find a comet-like structure around one of the brightest galaxies. At the leading edge of the structure, there is a cold front. The mass of the X-ray gas in the comet-like structure suggests that the galaxy was in a small cluster or group, and its intracluster medium (ICM) is being stripped by ram-pressure. The regions of cool interstellar medium (ISM) of the cD galaxies in A2670 and…
Emission-lines in the form of filamentary structures is common in bright clusters characterized by short cooling times. In the Perseus cluster, cold molecular gas, tightly linked to the H$α$ filaments, has been recently revealed by CO observations. In order to understand the origin of these filamentary structures, we have investigated the evolution of the hot ICM gas perturbed by the AGN central activity in a Perseus like cluster. Using very-high resolution TreeSPH simulations combined with a multiphase model and a model of plasma bubbles, we have been able to follow the density and temperatur…
(abridged) We investigate in detail the role of active galactic nuclei on the physical state of the gas in galaxy groups and clusters, and the implications for anisotropy in the CMB from Sunyaev-Zeldovich effect. We include the effect of thermal conduction, and find that the resulting profiles of temperature and entropy are consistent with observations. Unlike previously proposed models, our model predicts that isentropic cores are not an inevitable consequence of preheating. The model also reproduces the observational trend for the density profiles to flatten in lower mass systems. We deduce …
Other nongravitational heating processes are needed to resolve the disagreement between the absence of cool gas components in the centers of galaxy clusters revealed recently by Chandra and XMM observations and the expectations of conventional radiative cooling models. Here we propose that the interaction between dark matter particles and ordinary baryonic matter may act as an alternative for the reheating of intracluster medium (ICM) in the inner regions of clusters, in which kinetic energy of dark matter is transported to ICM to balance the radiative cooling. Using the Chandra and XMM data o…
A number of studies have shown that the convective stability criterion for the intracluster medium (ICM) is very different from the Schwarzchild criterion due to the effects of anisotropic thermal conduction and cosmic rays. Building on these studies, we develop a model of the ICM in which a central active galactic nucleus (AGN) accretes hot intracluster plasma at the Bondi rate and produces cosmic rays that cause the ICM to become convectively unstable. The resulting convection heats the intracluster plasma and regulates its temperature and density profiles. By adjusting a single parameter in…
We conduct a comprehensive investigation of the detectability of the first stars and their enrichment signatures in galaxy clusters. We show that the mean metallicity of outflows from objects containing these Population III (PopIII) stars is well above the critical transition metallicity (Z_cr \sim 10^-4) that marks the formation of normal stars. Thus the fraction of PopIII objects formed as a function of redshift is heavily dependent on the distribution of metals and fairly independent of the precise value of Z_cr. Using an analytical model of inhomogenous structure formation, we study the ev…
