arXiv subjects

J. ZuHone

Publications and source records attributed to J. ZuHone.

28 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2019

Astro2020 Science White Paper: A Unification of the Micro and Macro Physics in the Intracluster Medium of Nearby Clusters

Clusters of galaxies are the most massive virialized structures in the Universe. The microphysical properties of the intracluster plasma can affect dynamical processes over an enormous range: from the feedback of active galactic nuclei to shock acceleration in merging clusters. All the major cosmological simulations assume the astrophysical plasma to be inviscid. It is critical to measure microphysical properties of the intracluster plasma to truly understand the physical processes that drive the cosmic evolution. Tremendous progress has been made by comparing high spatial resolution X-ray images to (magneto-)hydrodynamic simulations. Future X-ray missions with calorimeters promise a direct measurement of transport coefficients and gas motions, providing a more realistic benchmark for cosmological simulations.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2019

Unveiling the Galaxy Cluster - Cosmic Web Connection with X-ray observations in the Next Decade

In recent years, the outskirts of galaxy clusters have emerged as one of the new frontiers and unique laboratories for studying the growth of large scale structure in the universe. Modern cosmological hydrodynamical simulations make firm and testable predictions of the thermodynamic and chemical evolution of the X-ray emitting intracluster medium. However, recent X-ray and Sunyaev-Zeldovich effect observations have revealed enigmatic disagreements with theoretical predictions, which have motivated deeper investigations of a plethora of astrophysical processes operating in the virialization region in the cluster outskirts. Much of the physics of cluster outskirts is fundamentally different from that of cluster cores, which has been the main focus of X-ray cluster science over the past several decades. A next-generation X-ray telescope, equipped with sub-arcsecond spatial resolution over a large field of view along with a low and stable instrumental background, is required in order to reveal the full story of the growth of galaxy clusters and the cosmic web and their applications for cosmology.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2019

Constraining Gas Motions in the Intra-Cluster Medium

The detailed velocity structure of the diffuse X-ray emitting intra-cluster medium (ICM) remains one of the last missing key ingredients in understanding the microphysical properties of these hot baryons and constraining our models of the growth and evolution of structure on the largest scales in the Universe. Direct measurements of the gas velocities from the widths and shifts of X-ray emission lines were recently provided for the central region of the Perseus Cluster of galaxies by $Hitomi$, and upcoming high-resolution X-ray microcalorimeters onboard $XRISM$ and $Athena$ are expected to extend these studies to many more systems. In the mean time, several other direct and indirect methods have been proposed for estimating the velocity structure in the ICM, ranging from resonant scattering to X-ray surface brightness fluctuation analysis, the kinematic Sunyaev-Zeldovich effect, or using optical line emitting nebulae in the brightest cluster galaxies as tracers of the motions of the ambient plasma. Here, we review and compare the existing estimates of the velocities of the hot baryons, as well as the various overlapping physical processes that drive motions in the ICM, and discuss the implications of these measurements for constraining the viscosity and identifying the source of turbulence in clusters of galaxies.

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arXiv2018

Magnetic Field Amplification in Galaxy Clusters and its Simulation

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.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2018

What Do the Hitomi Observations Tell Us About the Turbulent Velocities in the Perseus Cluster? Probing the Velocity Field with Mock Observations

Hitomi made the first direct measurements of galaxy cluster gas motions in the Perseus cluster, which implied that its core is fairly "quiescent", with velocities less than $\sim$200 km s$^{-1}$, despite the presence of an active galactic nucleus and sloshing cold fronts. Building on previous work, we use synthetic Hitomi/SXS observations of the hot plasma of a simulated cluster with sloshing gas motions and varying viscosity to analyze its velocity structure in a similar fashion. We find that sloshing motions can produce line shifts and widths similar to those measured by Hitomi. We find these measurements are unaffected by the value of the gas viscosity, since its effects are only manifested clearly on angular scales smaller than the SXS $\sim$1' PSF. The PSF biases the line shift of regions near the core as much as $\sim 40-50$ km s$^{-1}$, so it is crucial to model this effect carefully. We also infer that if sloshing motions dominate the observed velocity gradient, Perseus must be observed from a line of sight which is somewhat inclined from the plane of these motions, but one that still allows the spiral pattern to be visible. Finally, we find that assuming isotropy of motions can underestimate the total velocity and kinetic energy of the core in our simulation by as much as $\sim$60%. However, the total kinetic energy in our simulated cluster core is still less than 10% of the thermal energy in the core, in agreement with the Hitomi observations.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2016

Mapping the Gas Turbulence in the Coma Cluster: Predictions for Astro-H

Astro-H will be able for the first time to map gas velocities and detect turbulence in galaxy clusters. One of the best targets for turbulence studies is the Coma cluster, due to its proximity, absence of a cool core, and lack of a central active galactic nucleus. To determine what constraints Astro-H will be able to place on the Coma velocity field, we construct simulated maps of the projected gas velocity and compute the second-order structure function, an analog of the velocity power spectrum. We vary the injection scale, dissipation scale, slope, and normalization of the turbulent power spectrum, and apply measurement errors and finite sampling to the velocity field. We find that even with sparse coverage of the cluster, Astro-H will be able to measure the Mach number and the injection scale of the turbulent power spectrum--the quantities determining the energy flux down the turbulent cascade and the diffusion rate for everything that is advected by the gas (metals, cosmic rays, etc.). Astro-H will not be sensitive to the dissipation scale or the slope of the power spectrum in its inertial range, unless they are outside physically motivated intervals. We give the expected confidence intervals for the injection scale and the normalization of the power spectrum for a number of possible pointing configurations, combining the structure function and velocity dispersion data. Importantly, we also determine that measurement errors on the line shift will bias the velocity structure function upward, and show how to correct this bias.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2015

Simulating Astro-H Observations of Sloshing Gas Motions in the Cores of Galaxy Clusters

Astro-H will be the first X-ray observatory to employ a high-resolution microcalorimeter, capable of measuring the shift and width of individual spectral lines to the precision necessary for estimating the velocity of the diffuse plasma in galaxy clusters. This new capability is expected to bring significant progress in understanding the dynamics, and therefore the physics, of the intracluster medium. However, because this plasma is optically thin, projection effects will be an important complicating factor in interpreting future Astro-H measurements. To study these effects in detail, we performed an analysis of the velocity field from simulations of a galaxy cluster experiencing gas sloshing, and generated synthetic X-ray spectra, convolved with model Astro-H Soft X-ray Spectrometer (SXS) responses. We find that the sloshing motions produce velocity signatures that will be observable by Astro-H in nearby clusters: the shifting of the line centroid produced by the fast-moving cold gas underneath the front surface, and line broadening produced by the smooth variation of this motion along the line of sight. The line shapes arising from inviscid or strongly viscous simulations are very similar, indicating that placing constraints on the gas viscosity from these measurements will be difficult. Our spectroscopic analysis demonstrates that, for adequate exposures, Astro-H will be able to recover the first two moments of the velocity distribution of these motions accurately, and in some cases multiple velocity components may be discerned. The simulations also confirm the importance of accurate treatment of PSF scattering in the interpretation of Astro-H/SXS spectra of cluster plasmas.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2014

ASTRO-H White Paper - Clusters of Galaxies and Related Science

The next generation X-ray observatory ASTRO-H will open up a new dimension in the study of galaxy clusters by achieving for the first time the spectral resolution required to measure velocities of the intracluster plasma, and extending at the same time the spectral coverage to energies well beyond 10 keV. This white paper provides an overview of the capabilities of ASTRO-H for exploring gas motions in galaxy clusters including their cosmological implications, the physics of AGN feedback, dynamics of cluster mergers as well as associated high-energy processes, chemical enrichment of the intracluster medium, and the nature of missing baryons and unidentified dark matter.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2014

Suppression of local heat flux in a turbulent magnetized intracluster medium

X-ray observations of hot gas in galaxy clusters often show steeper temperature gradients across cold fronts -- contact discontinuities, driven by the differential gas motions. These sharp (a few kpc wide) surface brightness/temperature discontinuities would be quickly smeared out by the electron thermal conduction in unmagnetized plasma, suggesting significant suppression of the heat flow across the discontinuities. In fact, the character of the gas flow near cold fronts is favorable for suppression of conduction by aligning magnetic field lines along the discontinuities. We argue that a similar mechanism is operating in the bulk of the gas. Generic 3D random isotropic and incompressible motions increase the temperature gradients (in some places) and at the same time suppress the local conduction by aligning the magnetic field lines perpendicular to the local temperature gradient. We show that the suppression of the effective conductivity in the bulk of the gas can be linked to the increase of the frozen magnetic field energy density. On average the rate of decay of the temperature fluctuations $\mathrm{d}\langle δT^2 \rangle /\mathrm{d}t$ decreases as $\langle B^2 \rangle ^{-1/5}$.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2002

Mapping Initial Hydrostatic Models in Godunov Codes

We look in detail at the process of mapping an astrophysical initial model from a stellar evolution code onto the computational grid of an explicit, Godunov type code while maintaining hydrostatic equilibrium. This mapping process is common in astrophysical simulations, when it is necessary to follow short-timescale dynamics after a period of long timescale buildup. We look at the effects of spatial resolution, boundary conditions, the treatment of the gravitational source terms in the hydrodynamics solver, and the initialization process itself. We conclude with a summary detailing the mapping process that yields the lowest ambient velocities in the mapped model.

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