Interactions between Active Galactic Nuclei and the Intracluster Medium

• Applicants: Professor Marcus Brüggen, Ph.D.; Professor Dr. Hans Böhringer
• Subject Area: Astrophysics and Astronomy
• Term: from 2005 to 2012
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 5447455

• Final Report Year: 2012

Final Report Abstract

The interaction between active galactic nuclei (AGN) and the intracluster medium (ICM) is essential for feedback, which is believed to be the crucial ingredient for the baryonic part of galaxy formation. In our project we made substantial progress in understanding the physics of AGN feedback: We characterised the AGN-ICM interactions in M87, Hydra A and M84 by a concerted approach of observations and hydrodynamic simulations, we found that turbulence is responsible for shaping the evolution of the AGN inflated bubbles and we are incorporating AGN feedback in cosmological simulations. AGN activity is not the only dynamical process in galaxy clusters that affects the state of the ICM, but galaxy clusters suffer major and minor mergers. Minor mergers lead to characteristic cold fronts wrapped around cluster cores. We have combined hydrodynamical simulations and observations to disentangle the merger history of Virgo and A496 from the properties of their cold fronts. Furthermore, the cluster galaxies continuously move through the ICM, and we have simulated ram pressure stripping of spiral galaxies and investigated the fate of their remaining gas disks and the properties of their wakes.

Publications

• (2006): Ram pressure stripping of disc galaxies: the role of the inclination angle. In: Mon Not R Astron Soc 369 (2), S. 567–580
  Roediger, E., Brüggen, M.
  
• 2006, MNRAS, 373, L65(2006): The answer is blowing in the wind: simulating the interaction of jets with dynamic cluster atmospheres. In: Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters 373 (1), L65-L69
  Heinz, S., Brüggen, M., Young, A., & Levesque, E.
  
• (2007): Metal mixing by buoyant bubbles in galaxy clusters. In: Mon Not R Astron Soc 375 (1), S. 15–28
  Roediger, E., Brüggen, M., Rebusco, P., Böhringer, H., Churazov, E.
  
• (2007): Ram pressure stripping of disc galaxies orbiting in clusters – I. Mass and radius of the remaining gas disc. In: Mon Not R Astron Soc 380 (4), S. 1399–1408
  Roediger, E., Brüggen, M.
  
• (2007): Shock heating by Fanaroff-Riley type I radio sources in galaxy clusters. In: Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters 380 (1), L67-L70
  Brüggen, M., Heinz, S., Roediger, E., Ruszkowski, M., Simionescu, A.
  
• (2007): The gaseous atmosphere of M 87 seen with XMM-Newton. In: A&A 465 (3), S. 749–758
  Simionescu, A., Böhringer, H., Brüggen, M., & Finoguenov, A.
  
• (2008): Cosmic ray confinement in fossil cluster bubbles. In: Mon Not R Astron Soc 383 (4), S. 1359–1365
  Ruszkowski, M., Enßlin, T. A., Brüggen, M., Begelman, M. C., Churazov, E.
  
• (2008): In‐Depth Chandra Study of the AGN Feedback in Virgo Elliptical Galaxy M84. In: ApJ 686 (2), S. 911–917
  Finoguenov, A.; Ruszkowski, M.; Jones, C.; Br¨ uggen, M.; Vikhlinin, A.; Mandel, E.
  
• (2008): Metal-rich multi-phase gas in M 87. In: A&A 482 (1), S. 97–112
  Simionescu, A.; Werner, N.; Finoguenov, A.; Böhringer, H.; Brüggen, M.
  
• (2008): Ram-pressure stripping of disc galaxies orbiting in clusters – II. Galactic wakes. In: Mon Not R Astron Soc 388 (2), S. 465–486
  Roediger, E., Brüggen, M.
  
• (2008): Subgrid Modeling of AGN‐driven Turbulence in Galaxy Clusters. In: ApJ 686 (2), S. 927–947
  Scannapieco E., Brüggen M.
  
• (2009): Chemical enrichment in the cluster of galaxies Hydra A. In: A&A 493 (2), S. 409–424
  Simionescu, A.; Werner, N.; Böhringer, H.; Kaastra, J. S.; Finoguenov, A.; Brüggen, M.; Nulsen, P. E. J.
  
• (2009): Evolution of X-ray cavities. In: Mon Not R Astron Soc 395 (4), S. 2210–2220
  Brüggen, M., Scannapieco, E., & Heinz, S.
  
• (2009): Self-regulation of active galactic nuclei in galaxy clusters. In: Mon Not R Astron Soc 398 (2), S. 548–560
  Brüggen M., Scannapieco E.
  
• (2009): The large-scale shock in the cluster of galaxies Hydra A. In: A&A 495 (3), S. 721–732
  Simionescu, A., Roediger, E.; Nulsen, P. E. J., Brüggen, M., Forman, W. R., Böhringer, H.,Werner, N., Finoguenov, A.
  
• (2011): Gas sloshing, cold front formation and metal redistribution: the Virgo cluster as a quantitative test case. In: Mon Not R Astron Soc 413 (3), S. 2057–2077
  Roediger, E., Brüggen, M., Simionescu, A., Böhringer, H., Churazov, E., Forman, W. R.
  
• (2012): Gas sloshing, cold fronts, Kelvin-Helmholtz instabilities and the merger history of the cluster of galaxies Abell 496. In: Mon Not R Astron Soc 420 (4), S. 3632–3648
  Roediger, E., Lovisari, L., Dupke, R., Ghizzardi, S., Brüggen, M., Kraft, R. P., Machacek, M. E.