2011/02/14 by Luigi Iapichino, Iapichino, Luigi
Physics and Astronomy · #Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics (astro-ph.CO) #FOS: Physical sciences #Solar and Space Plasma Dynamics #astro-ph.CO
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.1102.2765
4 pages, 3 figures. To appear in the proceedings of "Non-thermal phenomena in colliding galaxy clusters", Nice (France), November 2010
arxiv created 2011/02/14 · openalex publication_date 2011/02/14 · arxiv updated 2011/02/15 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
Halo mergers and shock waves play a crucial role in the process of hierarchical clustering. Hydrodynamical simulations are the principal investigation tool in this field for theoreticians, and predict that a by-product of cluster formation and virialisation is the injection of turbulence in the cosmic flow. Here I will summarise results from a series of recent works focused on the main stirring mechanisms acting on baryons: minor and major cluster mergers, and curved shocks. Unresolved turbulence has been treated with the implementation of a subgrid scale model. Recent simulations show that the production of turbulence differs significantly for the warm-hot intergalactic medium (WHIM) and the intra-cluster medium (ICM), because of different stirring mechanisms acting in the two gas phases.