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Bubbles, feedback and the intracluster medium: three-dimensional hydrodynamic simulations

Quilis, V.; Bower, R.G.; Balogh, M.L.

Authors

V. Quilis

R.G. Bower

M.L. Balogh



Abstract

We use a three-dimensional hydrodynamical code to simulate the effect of energy injection on cooling flows in the intracluster medium. Specifically, we compare a simulation of a 1015-M cluster with radiative cooling only with a second simulation in which thermal energy is injected 31 kpc off-centre, over 64 kpc3 at a rate of for 50 Myr. The heat injection forms a hot, low-density bubble which quickly rises, dragging behind it material from the cluster core. The rising bubble pushes with it a shell of gas which expands and cools. We find the appearance of the bubble in X-ray temperature and luminosity to be in good qualitative agreement with recent Chandra observations of cluster cores. Toward the end of the simulation, at 600 Myr, the displaced gas begins to fall back toward the core, and the subsequent turbulence is very efficient at mixing the low- and high-entropy gas. The result is that the cooling flow is disrupted for up to 50 Myr after the injection of energy ceases. Thus this mechanism provides a very efficient method for regulating cooling flows, if the injection events occur with a 1:1 duty cycle.

Citation

Quilis, V., Bower, R., & Balogh, M. (2001). Bubbles, feedback and the intracluster medium: three-dimensional hydrodynamic simulations. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 328(4), 1091-1097. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-8711.2001.04927.x

Journal Article Type Article
Publication Date Dec 1, 2001
Deposit Date Apr 29, 2008
Publicly Available Date Mar 29, 2024
Journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Print ISSN 0035-8711
Electronic ISSN 1365-2966
Publisher Royal Astronomical Society
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 328
Issue 4
Pages 1091-1097
DOI https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-8711.2001.04927.x
Keywords Methods, Numerical, Galaxies, Clusters, Cooling flows, Intergalactic medium, X-rays, Galaxy formation, Optical-spectra, Star-formation, Gas, Emission, Models.

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