Physics of galaxy clusters and groups

Galaxy clusters and their smaller siblings, galaxy groups, are the most massive gravitationally bound structures in the Universe. While they can contain hundreds of galaxies, the vast majority of their baryonic mass is found in the extremely hot (>10 million degrees K) gas between the galaxies. Many astrophysical processes are imprinted in this intracluster/intragroup medium (ICM/IGrM), including feedback from supermassive black holes, the interaction of infalling galaxies and groups with the ICM, cluster mergers, and gas accretion along cosmic filaments. The ICM therefore allows us to study these processes and their effects in detail through multiwavelength observations and numerical simulations.

Our group is primarily interested in the physical processes that govern the evolution of the ICM/IGrM. These include the dynamical effects of hierarchical mergers, accretion from the surrounding intergalactic medium, feedback from supermassive black holes, and the microphysical properties of the ICM plasma. We primarily use X-ray observatories like Chandra, XRISM, and XMM-Newton to study the ICM, however we also develop and analyze numerical simulations, and look to microwave and radio observations of clusters to help us understand how the ICM works on a fundamental, physical level.