Galaxy Clusters Mergers and Evolution

Dear Colleagues,

Our current view of the universe is based on the standard cold dark matter (CDM) model. In this model, galaxy clusters grow and evolve by merging with other clusters and by continuously accreting matter along cosmic filaments. Of these processes, cluster mergers are the most energetic, and thus, produce the most significant effects on the cluster evolution. These violent processes produce changes to the overall dark matter halo distribution and to the thermodynamic state of the intra-cluster medium (ICM). For instance, these mergers can produce significant gas sloshing and ICM shocks that can last for a few Giga-years after a merger. This violent weather can, for example, interact with the galaxies and trigger or quench star formation activity. In addition, the density and temperature changes produce different observational signatures that can help us to better understand the physics of merging clusters. Detailed numerical simulations of galaxy cluster mergers allow us to study in detail how the properties of the different cluster components change during these mergers. Comparing the results of the simulations with the observations allows us to gain an insight on the physics of mergers and also provide validations for our numerical models. Interestingly, we are starting to identify and study clusters through time all the way to the epoch of their formation (z > 3). In this way, we can study the effects of galaxy cluster mergers at all phases of their evolution.

In this issue, we will look at the different effects that cluster mergers have in the different cluster components and how they affect our observations.  We will also explore how the different types of observations (i.e., X-ray, optical, near-IR, radio, Sunyaev-Zel’dovich Effect) can help us to understand the complex interplay and dynamics of a merger. We will also review the current state of detailed numerical simulations of cluster evolution and how they shed light into the underlying physics of cluster mergers. In this way, we are starting to get a more complete view of how mergers transform proto-clusters into the coma-like clusters that we see in the present universe.

Dr. Percy L. Gómez
Guest Editor

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