Stochastic heating of cooling flows
Abstract
It is generally accepted that the heating of gas in clusters of galaxies by active galactic nuclei is a form of feedback. Feedback is required to ensure a long-term, sustainable balance between heating and cooling. This work investigates the impact of proportional stochastic feedback on the energy balance in the intracluster medium. Using a generalized analytical model for a cluster atmosphere, it is shown that an energy equilibrium can be reached exponentially quickly. Applying the tools of stochastic calculus, it is demonstrated that the result is robust with regard to the model parameters, even though they affect the amount of variability in the system.
- Publication:
-
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
- Pub Date:
- November 2009
- DOI:
- 10.1111/j.1365-2966.2009.15424.x
- arXiv:
- arXiv:0907.3474
- Bibcode:
- 2009MNRAS.399.2195P
- Keywords:
-
- galaxies: active;
- galaxies: clusters: general;
- cooling flows;
- Astrophysics - Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics
- E-Print:
- 7 pages, 6 figures, accepted by MNRAS, http://www.astro.soton.ac.uk/~gbp/pub/pavlovski_stochh.pdf