Interplay among Cooling, AGN Feedback and Anisotropic Conduction in the Cool Cores of Galaxy Clusters

TL;DR

This study uses 3D MHD simulations to explore how AGN feedback, anisotropic conduction, and magnetic fields interact in galaxy cluster cool cores, revealing their combined effects on heat transfer and cluster stability.

Contribution

First comprehensive 3D MHD simulations including anisotropic conduction, radiative cooling, and AGN feedback to study their interplay in galaxy cluster cool cores.

Findings

Magnetic tension suppresses HBI modes, affecting conduction.

AGN-driven turbulence sustains conduction at ~1/3 of Spitzer value.

Conductive heating can offset up to 50% of radiative losses in massive clusters.

Abstract

Feedback from the active galactic nuclei (AGN) is one of the most promising heating mechanisms to circumvent the cooling-flow problem in galaxy clusters. However, the role of thermal conduction remains unclear. Previous studies have shown that anisotropic thermal conduction in cluster cool cores (CC) could drive the heat-flux driven buoyancy instabilities (HBI) that re-orient the field lines in the azimuthal directions and isolate the cores from conductive heating from the outskirts. However, how the AGN interacts with the HBI is still unknown. To understand these interwined processes, we perform the first 3D magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulations of isolated CC clusters that include anisotropic conduction, radiative cooling, and AGN feedback. We find that: (1) For realistic magnetic field strengths in clusters, magnetic tension can suppress a significant portion of HBI-unstable modes and thus the HBI is either completely inhibited or significantly impaired, depending on the unknown magnetic field coherence length. (2) Turbulence driven by AGN jets can effectively randomize magnetic field lines and sustain conductivity at ~1/3 of the Spitzer value; however, the AGN-driven turbulence is not volume-filling. (3) Conductive heating within the cores could contribute to ~10% of the radiative losses in Perseus-like clusters and up to ~50% for clusters twice the mass of Perseus. (4) Thermal conduction has various impacts on the AGN activity and ICM properties for the hottest clusters, which may be searched by future observations to constrain the level of conductivity in clusters. The distribution of cold gas and the implications are also discussed.