Magnetic Field Amplification in Galaxy Clusters and its Simulation

TL;DR

This paper reviews the current understanding and simulation challenges of magnetic field amplification in galaxy clusters, emphasizing turbulence, shocks, and microphysics in large-scale cosmic structures.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive overview of the theoretical and numerical challenges in simulating magnetic field amplification in galaxy clusters.

Findings

Magnetic seed fields are amplified to microGauss levels in clusters.

Turbulence and shocks play key roles in magnetic field amplification.

Simulating these processes accurately remains a significant challenge.

Abstract

We review the present theoretical and numerical understanding of magnetic field amplification in cosmic large-scale structure, on length scales of galaxy clusters and beyond. Structure formation drives compression and turbulence, which amplify tiny magnetic seed fields to the microGauss values that are observed in the intracluster medium. This process is intimately connected to the properties of turbulence and the microphysics of the intra-cluster medium. Additional roles are played by merger induced shocks that sweep through the intra-cluster medium and motions induced by sloshing cool cores. The accurate simulation of magnetic field amplification in clusters still poses a serious challenge for simulations of cosmological structure formation. We review the current literature on cosmological simulations that include magnetic fields and outline theoretical as well as numerical challenges.