Shedding Light on Galaxy Clusters: The Origin of Intracluster Light

星系团是动态的宇宙结构，通过与周围环境的相互作用，与其他星系团的合并，并将周围的星系吸引到它们的引力影响中，随着时间的推移而演变和增长。这些过程产生强烈的潮汐作用力，对单个星系产生深远的影响。恒星被从其母星系中剥离出来，一些星系甚至被完全摧毁，产生了弥漫而微弱的恒星群，称为星团内光(ICL)，渗透到星系团中。随着星系团通过吸收周围宇宙细丝中的较小卫星星系而继续增长，ICL逐渐积累。了解ICL的数量和分布为了解ICL的组装历史和动态演化以及更广泛的宇宙环境的影响提供了独特的见解。尽管ICL的性质难以捉摸，但包括欧几里德和Vera C.Rubin天文台在内的新的高度敏感的设施现在使我们能够对ICL进行前所未有的详细研究。为了有效地解释这些新的观测结果，我们需要对产生星系团内光的过程有一个全面的理论理解。这包括确定ICL的主要来源，了解从这些星系中剥离的恒星的命运，以及这种恒星物质是如何在星团中分布的。感兴趣的博士生将利用一些尖端流体动力学模拟的数据来追踪ICL的形成。他们将研究对其有贡献的星系的性质，以及不同的模拟模型(具有不同的保真度和物理假设)如何影响ICL的生产。他们将与宇宙学模拟的外部合作者和观察者密切合作，与罗曼、欧几里德和维拉·C·鲁宾天文台等最先进的设施合作，目标是建立一个坚实的基础，用来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.