Shedding Light on Galaxy Clusters: The Origin of Intracluster Light

星系团是动态的宇宙结构，随着时间的推移，通过与周围环境的相互作用，与其他星系团合并，并吸引周围星系进入其引力影响而发展和增长。这些过程产生了强烈的潮汐力，深刻地影响着单个星系。恒星从其母星系中剥离，有些星系甚至被完全摧毁，从而产生弥漫而微弱的恒星系综，称为星系团内光（ICL）。ICL随着星系团不断增长而逐渐积累，吸收周围宇宙细丝中的较小卫星星系。了解ICL的数量和分布提供了独特的见解的组装历史和动态演化的集群，以及更广泛的宇宙环境的影响。尽管其难以捉摸的性质，新的高灵敏度的设施，包括欧几里得和维拉C。鲁宾天文台，现在允许我们以前所未有的细节研究ICL。为了有效地解释这些新的观测结果，我们需要对产生团内光的过程有一个全面的理论理解。这包括识别ICL的主要来源，了解从这些星系剥离的恒星的命运，以及这些恒星物质如何在整个星系团中分布。感兴趣的博士候选人将利用一些尖端流体动力学模拟的数据来追踪ICL的形成。他们将研究星系的属性，以及不同的模拟模型，不同的保真度和物理假设水平，如何影响ICL的生产。他们将与外部合作者密切合作，进行宇宙学模拟，并与罗曼、欧几里得和维拉C等最先进的设施进行观测。鲁宾天文台的目标是建立一个坚实的基础，以全面了解星系团的形成和演化。

Galaxy clusters are dynamic cosmic structures that evolve and grow over time by interacting with their surroundings, merging with other clusters, and attracting surrounding galaxies into their gravitational influence. These processes generate intense tidal forces that profoundly affect individual galaxies. Stars are stripped away from their parent galaxies, and some galaxies are even entirely destroyed, giving rise to the diffuse and faint ensemble of stars known as intracluster light (ICL) which permeates galaxy clusters.The ICL accumulates gradually as galaxy clusters continue to grow by absorbing smaller satellite galaxies from surrounding cosmic filaments. Understanding the quantity and distribution of ICL provides unique insights into the assembly history and dynamic evolution of clusters, as well as the influence of the broader cosmic environment.Despite its elusive nature, new highly sensitive facilities including Euclid and the Vera C. Rubin Observatory, are now allowing us to study the ICL in unprecedented detail. To interpret these new observations effectively, we need a comprehensive theoretical understanding of the processes that give rise to intracluster light. This includes identifying the primary sources of ICL, understanding the fate of the stars stripped from these galaxies, and how this stellar material is distributed throughout the cluster.Interested PhD candidates will leverage data from a number of cutting-edge hydrodynamical simulations to trace the formation of the ICL. They will investigate the properties of the galaxies contributing to it and how different simulation models, with varying levels of fidelity and physical assumptions, influence ICL production. They will work closely with external collaborators in cosmological simulations and observers working with state-of-the-art facilities like Roman, Euclid, and the Vera C. Rubin Observatory with the goal of establishing a solid foundation with which to unlock a comprehensive understanding of galaxy cluster formation and evolution.