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

Quilis, Vicent; Bower, Richard G.; Balogh, Michael L.

doi:10.1046/j.1365-8711.2001.04927.x

Cited by 161 publications

(193 citation statements)

References 34 publications

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“…Note added in proof: A model for the interaction of buoyantly rising relativistic plasma bubbles with the intracluster medium and the interruption of cooling flows is also described in recent work by Quilis et al (2001) providing similar conclusions as the work by outlined above.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 60%

The new emerging model for the structure of cooling cores in clusters of galaxies

Böhringer

Matsushita

Churazov

et al. 2002

A&A

173

171

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Abstract. New X-ray observations with XMM-Newton show a lack of spectral evidence for large amounts of cooling and condensing gas in the centers of galaxy clusters believed to harbour strong cooling flows. This paper re-explores the cooling flow scenario in the light of the new observations. We explore the diagnostics of the temperature structure of cooling cores with XMM-spectroscopy, tests for intracluster X-ray absorption towards central AGN, the effect of metal abundance inhomogeneities, and the implications of high resolution images in the centers of clusters. We find no evidence of intrinsic absorption in the center of the cooling flows of M 87 and the Perseus cluster. We further consider the effect of cluster rotation in cooling flow regions in the frame of cosmic structure evolution models. Also, the heating of the core regions of clusters by jets from a central AGN is reconsidered. We find that the power of the AGN jets as estimated by their interaction effects with the intracluster medium in several examples is more then sufficient to heat the cooling flows and to reduce the mass deposition rates. We explore in more detail which requirements such a heating model has to fulfill to be consistent with all observations, point out the way such a model could be constructed, and argue that such model building seems to be successful. In summary, it is argued that most observational evidence points towards much lower mass deposition rates than previously inferred in the central region of clusters thought to contain strong cooling flows.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 60%

The new emerging model for the structure of cooling cores in clusters of galaxies

Böhringer

Matsushita

Churazov

et al. 2002

A&A

173

171

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“…The cooling gas flows to the center of the cluster and may then trigger a further active phase of the AGN. Thus, a self-regulating process with cooling periods alternating with brief bursts of AGN activity may be established (Quilis, Bower, & Balogh 2001;Voit & Bryan 2001;Churazov et al 2002). The rising bubbles uplift colder material from the vicinity of the AGN and thus disrupt the supply of fresh fuel for the radio jets.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Equilibrium Models of Galaxy Clusters with Cooling, Heating, and Conduction

Brüggen

2003

ApJ

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It is generally argued that most clusters of galaxies host cooling flows in which radiative cooling in the center causes a slow inflow. However, recent observations by Chandra and XMM conflict with the predicted cooling flow rates. Among other mechanisms, heating by a central active galactic nucleus and thermal conduction have been invoked in order to account for the small mass deposition rates. Here we present a family of hydrostatic models for the intracluster medium where radiative losses are exactly balanced by thermal conduction and heating by a central source. We describe the features of this simple model and fit its parameters to the density and temperature profiles of Hydra A.

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“…The buoyant rise and the subsequent mixing of high-entropy gas with the cluster material can lead to a significant re-structuring of the inner regions of a cooling flow. However, the details of the buoyant rise of the bubbles and the mixing with their gaseous environments are complex processes that are difficult to treat on the basis of analytical estimates alone.Therefore, we performed highly resolved two-dimensional hydrodynamic simulations of buoyant gas in a typical cluster environment similar to previous simulations of lower resolution (Brüggen et al, 2002;Quilis et al, 2001). These simulations were performed using the FLASH code (Fryxell et al, 2000), which uses an explicit piece-wise parabolic method to solve the equations of compressible hydrodynamics.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Therefore, we performed highly resolved two-dimensional hydrodynamic simulations of buoyant gas in a typical cluster environment similar to previous simulations of lower resolution (Brüggen et al, 2002;Quilis et al, 2001). These simulations were performed using the FLASH code (Fryxell et al, 2000), which uses an explicit piece-wise parabolic method to solve the equations of compressible hydrodynamics.…”

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confidence: 99%

Hot bubbles from active galactic nuclei as a heat source in cooling-flow clusters

Brüggen

Kaiser

2002

Nature

238

233

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The hot plasma permeating clusters of galaxies often shows a central peak in the X-ray surface brightness that is coincident with a drop in entropy. This is taken as evidence for a cooling flow where the radiative cooling in the central regions of a cluster causes a slow subsonic inflow (e.g. Fabian, 1994). Searches in all wavebands have revealed significantly less cool gas than predicted (Böhringer et al., 2002) indicating that the mass deposition rate of cooling flows is much lower than expected. However, most cooling flow clusters host an Active Galactic Nucleus (AGN) at their centres (Burns, 1990). AGN can inflate large bubbles of hot plasma that subsequently rise through the cluster atmosphere, thus stirring this gas (Churazov et al., 2000(Churazov et al., , 2001). Here we report on the results from highly resolved hydrodynamic simulations which for the first time show that buoyant bubbles increase the cooling time in the inner cluster regions and thereby significantly reduce the deposition of cold gas. This work demonstrates that the action of AGN in the centres of cooling flow clusters can explain the observed absence of large quantities of cooled gas.The explanation of the absence of cold gas in the gaseous atmospheres of cooling flow clusters strongly suggests the presence of an, at least periodically active, source of heat in their centres. Heating the gas at the cluster centre increases its entropy and thus its radiative cooling time. However, not all heating processes will explain the observations. Fully convective heating of the cluster gas would lead to the entropy being highest in the cluster centre, opposite to what is observed (Böhringer et al., 2002).It has been suggested that the removal of cold gas and the feedback of energy through star formation and related supernovae can explain some of the observed properties of clusters (e.g. Voit & Bryan, 2001). While this is a promising scenario for the initial formation of clusters within the framework of hierarchical structure formation in the universe, the level of star formation found in detailed investigations of present-day cooling flow clusters is insufficient to explain the mass deposition rates inferred from X-ray observations (Böhringer et al., 2002). Moreover, the amount of star formation during the evolution of clusters necessary to explain the distribution of gas observed in them today, is difficult to reconcile with the observed abundances of heavy elements (Wu et al., 2000).Radio-loud AGN drive strong outflows in the form of jets that inflate bubbles or lobes. The lobes are filled with hot plasma and can heat the cluster gas in various ways. In the case of very energetic jets the expansion of the lobes will be supersonic. The resulting strong shock will heat and compress the gas (Heinz et al., 1998;Kaiser & Alexander, 1999;Reynolds et al., 2001). However, there is mounting evidence that weaker jets, which are presumably much more common, do not lead to efficient shock heating . Nevertheless, they still produce pockets of low-dens...

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

Cited by 161 publications

References 34 publications

The new emerging model for the structure of cooling cores in clusters of galaxies

The new emerging model for the structure of cooling cores in clusters of galaxies

Equilibrium Models of Galaxy Clusters with Cooling, Heating, and Conduction

Hot bubbles from active galactic nuclei as a heat source in cooling-flow clusters

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