Shocks and Cold Fronts in Galaxy Clusters --- Probing the Microphysics of the Intracluster Medium

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dc.contributor.advisorMushotzky, Richarden_US
dc.contributor.advisorMarkevitch, Maximen_US
dc.contributor.authorWang, Qianen_US
dc.contributor.departmentAstronomyen_US
dc.contributor.publisherDigital Repository at the University of Marylanden_US
dc.contributor.publisherUniversity of Maryland (College Park, Md.)en_US
dc.date.accessioned2019-06-22T05:32:45Z
dc.date.available2019-06-22T05:32:45Z
dc.date.issued2018en_US
dc.description.abstractShocks and cold fronts in galaxy clusters, the largest gravitationally bound systems in the universe, are astrophysical laboratories where we can study the microphysics of the intracluster medium (ICM), a very hot ($T\sim10^7$--$10^8$~K) plasma. Being the main baryon content of galaxy clusters, the ICM plays an important role in mediating the energy cascade from gravitational collapse during cosmological structure formation. It is also intricately linked to the evolution of the galaxies within. The scientific enquiries concerning the ICM range from fundamental physics questions to cosmological measurements. In this dissertation, I demonstrate probing ICM microphysics by studying deep X-ray observations of two galaxy clusters, A520 and A2142. For A520, tests for thermal conduction, electron--ion equilibration timescale, and particle acceleration at the shock were carried out. For A2142, a test for the effective viscosity was performed using two apparent Kelvin-Helmholtz eddies along its southern cold front. Other interesting features were discovered and analyzed, such as a low gas fraction subcluster in the A520 outskirts, and X-ray deficient channels that could be plasma depletion sheets in both clusters.en_US
dc.identifierhttps://doi.org/10.13016/osuu-8usi
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/22163
dc.language.isoenen_US
dc.subject.pqcontrolledAstrophysicsen_US
dc.subject.pqcontrolledAstronomyen_US
dc.subject.pquncontrolledgalaxy clustersen_US
dc.subject.pquncontrolledintracluster mediumen_US
dc.titleShocks and Cold Fronts in Galaxy Clusters --- Probing the Microphysics of the Intracluster Mediumen_US
dc.typeDissertationen_US

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