Signature of Supersonic Turbulence in Galaxy Clusters Revealed by AGN-driven H$\alpha$ Filaments

TL;DR

This study uses high-resolution simulations to reveal that cold gas filaments in galaxy clusters exhibit signatures of supersonic turbulence driven by AGN activity, challenging previous assumptions of subsonic ICM turbulence.

Contribution

It demonstrates that supersonic turbulence can be 'frozen' in cold filaments formed from AGN outflows, providing new insights into turbulence dynamics in galaxy clusters.

Findings

Supersonic turbulence is present in cold filaments of galaxy clusters.

Cold gas cooling times are shorter than dynamical times, trapping supersonic flows.

Hα filament turbulence signatures suggest short-lived cold gas phases.

Abstract

The hot intracluster medium (ICM) is thought to be quiescent with low observed velocity dispersions. Surface brightness fluctuations of the ICM also suggest that its turbulence is subsonic with a Kolmogorov scaling relation, indicating that the viscosity is suppressed and the kinetic energy cascades to small scales unscathed. However, recent observations of the cold gas filaments in galaxy clusters find that the scaling relations are steeper than that of the hot plasma, signaling kinetic energy losses and the presence of supersonic flows. In this work we use high-resolution simulations to explore the turbulent velocity structure of the cold filaments at the cores of galaxy clusters. Our results indicate that supersonic turbulent structures can be "frozen" in the cold gas that cools and fragments out of a fast, $10^7$ K outflow driven by the central active galactic nucleus (AGN), when the radiative cooling time is shorter than the dynamical sound-crossing time. After the cold gas formation, however, the slope of the velocity structure function (VSF) flattens significantly over short, 10 Myr timescales. The lack of flattened VSF in observations of H$\alpha$ filaments indicates that the H$\alpha$-emitting phase is short-lived for the cold gas in galaxy clusters. On the other hand, the ubiquity of supersonic turbulence revealed by observed filaments strongly suggests that supersonic outflows are an integral part of AGN-ICM interaction, and that AGN activity plays a crucial role at driving turbulence in galaxy clusters.