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arXiv 1105.2563astro-ph.CO
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引力分层等离子体中的热不稳定性:星系团和星系晕中多相结构的意义

Thermal Instability in Gravitationally-Stratified Plasmas: Implications for Multi-Phase Structure in Clusters and Galaxy Halos

Michael McCourt, Prateek Sharma, Eliot Quataert, Ian J. Parrish

摘要:

我们使用简化的,平面平行的数值模拟来研究重力分层等离子体中冷却,加热,传导和磁场之间的相互作用。由于物理加热机制仍然不确定,在大规模的晕,如集团或集群,我们采用了一个简单的,观察动机的处方,强制执行全球热平衡时,平均在大尺度上。然而,等离子体仍然容易受到局部热不稳定性的影响,并且冷却驱动材料向内流动。与以前的结果相比,我们认为,等离子体的热稳定性是独立的对流稳定性。我们发现冷却时间尺度与动力学时间尺度的比值t_cool/t_ff控制着热不稳定性的饱和:当t_cool/t_ff < 1时,等离子体发展为扩展的多相结构,而当t_cool / t_ff > 1时,则不发展为扩展的多相结构。(In在另一篇文章中,我们证明了球势中热不稳定性的判据不太严格,t_cool / t_ff < 10。当热传导相对于磁场为各向异性时,多相结构的判据基本上与等离子体的热传导率无关。我们的局部热不稳定性产生多相结构的标准是冷与热吸积模式在星系形成,适用于所有半径的热晕,而不仅仅是维里冲击的延伸。我们表明,该准则与星系团ACCEPT样本中多相气体的数据一致;此外,当t_cool / t_ff > 1时,相对于不加热的模型,低温净冷却速率和小半径质量通量得到了足够的抑制,从而与星系团和星系团中的恒星形成率和X射线线发射定性一致。

英文摘要:

We study the interplay among cooling, heating, conduction, and magnetic fields in gravitationally stratified plasmas using simplified, plane-parallel numerical simulations. Since the physical heating mechanism remains uncertain in massive halos such as groups or clusters, we adopt a simple, observationally-motivated prescription which enforces global thermal equilibrium when averaged over large scales. The plasma remains susceptible to local thermal instability, however, and cooling drives an inward flow of material. In contrast to previous results, we argue that the thermal stability of the plasma is independent of its convective stability. We find that the ratio of the cooling timescale to the dynamical timescale t_cool/t_ff controls the saturation of the thermal instability: when t_cool/t_ff < 1, the plasma develops extended multi-phase structure, whereas when t_cool / t_ff > 1 it does not. (In a companion paper, we show that the criterion for thermal instability in a spherical potential is somewhat less stringent, t_cool / t_ff < 10.) When thermal conduction is anisotropic with respect to the magnetic field, the criterion for multi-phase structure is essentially independent of the thermal conductivity of the plasma. Our criterion for local thermal instability to produce multi-phase structure is an extension of the cold vs. hot accretion modes in galaxy formation that applies at all radii in hot halos, not just to the virial shock. We show that this criterion is consistent with data on multi-phase gas in the ACCEPT sample of clusters; in addition, when t_cool / t_ff > 1, the net cooling rate to low temperatures and the mass flux to small radii are suppressed enough relative to models without heating to be qualitatively consistent with star formation rates and x-ray line emission in groups and clusters.

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