Ram pressure stripping of disk galaxies in galaxy clusters

TL;DR

This paper reviews the theoretical understanding of how ram pressure stripping affects disk galaxies in clusters, highlighting its role in galaxy evolution and differences between cluster and field spirals.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive overview of recent theoretical developments in modeling ram pressure stripping, comparing these models with observational data.

Findings

Ram pressure effectively removes interstellar medium from disk galaxies.

Theoretical models align with observed properties of cluster spirals.

Ram pressure stripping influences galaxy morphology and star formation rates.

Abstract

While galaxies move through the intracluster medium of their host cluster, they experience a ram pressure which removes at least a significant part of their interstellar medium. This ram pressure stripping appears to be especially important for spiral galaxies: this scenario is a good candidate to explain the differences observed between cluster spirals in the nearby universe and their field counterparts. Thus, ram pressure stripping of disk galaxies in clusters has been studied intensively during the last decade. I review advances made in this area, concentrating on theoretical work, but continuously comparing to observations.