The dynamical intracluster medium: a combined approach of observations and simulations

TL;DR

This paper combines high-resolution observations and numerical simulations to study the dynamical processes in galaxy cluster intracluster media, focusing on phenomena like shocks and cold fronts to better understand cluster physics.

Contribution

It introduces a combined observational and simulation approach to analyze the ICM, providing detailed insights into cluster dynamics and interactions.

Findings

Identification of large-scale shock in Hydra A

Simulation reproduces observed cold front features

Enhanced understanding of AGN-ICM interactions

Abstract

Current high resolution observations of galaxy clusters reveal a dynamical intracluster medium (ICM). The wealth of structures includes signatures of interactions between active galactic nuclei (AGN) and the ICM, such as cavities and shocks, as well as signatures of bulk motions, e.g. cold fronts. Aiming at understanding the physics of the ICM, we study individual clusters by both, deep high resolution observations and numerical simulations which include processes suspected to be at work, and aim at reproducing the observed properties. By comparing observations and simulations in detail, we gain deeper insights into cluster properties and processes. Here we present two examples of our approach: the large-scale shock in the Hydra A cluster, and sloshing cold fronts.