2026/07/15 by Joseph Whittingham
#astro-ph.GA #astro-ph.HE
paper · pdf · doi:10.25932/publishup-67622
Mergers have long been understood to be a driver of galaxy and galaxy cluster evolution. They release tremendous amounts of gravitational potential energy - ~1059 and ~1064 ergs in galaxies and clusters, respectively - which is dissipated in powerful shock waves. In galaxies especially, the strong tidal effects can have profound effects on the remnant morphology. Although the modelling of mergers has a long history, it is only recently that it has been fully appreciated just how sensitive they are to a range of factors, including the existence of circumgalactic media (CGM), accretion along filaments, and pre-existing magnetic fields. Modelling these aspects in a cosmologically-consistent manner necessitates the use of high-resolution cosmological magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulations. In this work, we use such simulations to investigate two distinct merger-related phenomena: i) magnetic fields in galaxy mergers, and ii) the origin of radio relics in galaxy clusters.