Resolving AGN accretion and feedback in cool core clusters with parsec-scale simulations

这个项目是对冷却核心星系团中冷却气体和活动星系核(AGN)反馈的系统研究，使用自适应网格细化模拟来解决所有冷却不稳定的问题，精确到近几秒的尺度。第一阶段将只关注辐射冷却，暂时忽略反馈，以确定气体在冷却核心中的冷却方式。它将考虑磁场和各向异性导热的影响，并评估气体温度和势井深度对冷却灾变的影响。第二阶段将包括活动星系核反馈，向下解析到中心超大质量黑洞的影响范围，以便专注于实现喷气驱动反馈的不同模型。对冷核心的X射线、光学和无线电发射特性的详细预测将作为测试模型的诊断。用于实现该项目目标的研究活动都将涉及培训和公众宣传，包括一些适合本科生的项目。该团队在这些领域有着良好的记录，所有成员将继续参与当地的活动，包括与美国自然历史博物馆合作生成高质量的可视化效果。本研究中使用的自适应网格模拟程序ENZO被世界各地的许多研究人员广泛使用，并将投入一些努力使其更加完整、准确和易于使用。PI将定期(虚拟)召开开发人员会议，以帮助指导代码开发。

This project is a systematic investigation of cooling gas and active galactic nucleus (AGN) feedback in cool core clusters, using adaptive mesh refinement simulations to resolve all cooling instabilities down to nearly the parsec scale. The first phase will focus only on radiative cooling, temporarily neglecting feedback in order to determine how gas cools in a cooling core. It will consider the effect of magnetic fields and anisotropic heat conduction, and evaluate the influence of gas temperature and potential well depth on the cooling catastrophe. The second phase will include AGN feedback, resolving down as far as the sphere of influence of the central supermassive black hole, in order to focus on different models for implementing jet-driven feedback. Detailed predictions of the X-ray, optical and radio emission properties of the cool core will serve as the diagnostics for testing the models.The research activities used to achieve the goals of this project will all involve training and public outreach, including a number of projects suitable for undergraduate students. The team has a good track record in these areas, and all members will continue to be involved in local activities, including a partnership with the American Museum of Natural History to generate high-quality visualizations. The adaptive mesh simulation code used in this study, called Enzo, is widely used by many researchers world-wide, and some effort will be invested to make it more complete, accurate and easy-to-use. The PI will hold regular (virtual) developer meetings to help to guide code development.