McGill.CA / Science / Department of Physics

Joint Astrophysics Colloquium

Joint Astrophysics Seminar

The answer is blowing in the wind - The AGN-ICM connection

Marcus Bruggen

International University Bremen

Recent observations show a multitude of physical effects that occur when active galactic nuclei (AGN) interact with the ambient intracluster medium (ICM). The interaction between AGN and the ICM is essential for understanding feedback, which is believed to be the crucial ingredient for the baryonic part of galaxy formation. In recent years, simulations of the interaction between active galactic nuclei and the intracluster medium have become increasingly realistic and sophisticated. Most hydrodynamical simulations are now three-dimensional, some simulations have started to explore the effects of conductivity, viscosity and magnetic fields. The latest generation of simulations start from realistic cluster environments taken out of cosmological simulations. In this talk, I wish to review recent advances in our understanding of how the AGN interacts with the ICM. New observational results and the latest simulations of the AGN - ICM interaction will be shown.

Tuesday, February 20th 2007, 16:00
Ernest Rutherford Physics Building, R.E. Bell Conference Room (room 103)