COLLOQUIUM Marine Prunier, MPIA Heidelberg

X-ray cavities and weak shocks with TNG-Cluster: AGN phenomena in the full cosmological context

Supermassive black hole feedback shapes galaxy clusters by inflating X-ray cavities and driving shocks, sound waves, and turbulence in the intracluster gas, ultimately heating the core and balancing cooling flows. In the IllustrisTNG cosmological simulations, this feedback is modeled via kinetic energy injection, producing disturbed cluster cores with a wealth of X-ray structures, such as cavities and weak shocks. I will present the first analysis of AGN-driven X-ray cavities and shocks in TNG-Cluster, the newest member of the IllustrisTNG suite, assessing whether its kinetic feedback reproduces observed kiloparsec-scale features. Using observational techniques, I detect and characterize AGN feedback signatures and show that TNG’s simple AGN model — without jets, cosmic rays, or any deliberate tuning to reproduce X-ray structures — naturally creates a realistic population of X-ray cavities, along with weak shocks, that help offset gas cooling. This work highlights both the power and the limits of cosmological simulations in capturing diverse AGN feedback signatures, in the era of XRISM and for upcoming X-ray missions.

Talk in presence and via Zoom:

https://uni-hamburg.zoom.us/j/66006535328?pwd=aGkrSjJIYmZjK0VpYlpGL0ZrdHg2UT09