Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Date of Degree

6-2024

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

M.S.

Program

Astrophysics

Advisor

Stephanie Tonnesen

Advisor

Ulrich Steinwandel

Subject Categories

Astrophysics and Astronomy | External Galaxies

Keywords

galaxy clusters, galaxy evolution, intracluster medium, magnetohydrodynamical simulations

Abstract

Galaxy evolution has been observed to be influenced by environment. Satellite galaxies orbiting within clusters can experience changes in morphology and composition through various mechanisms such as ram-pressure stripping (RPS), which removes a galaxy’s interstellar medium as it passes through the cluster via direct interaction with the hot intracluster medium gas. An open question is whether intracluster magnetic fields affect galaxy evolution, for example by forming a magnetic layer around infalling galaxies (called magnetic draping) and mitigating gas removal by RPS. Using the code GADGET-3, we compare global properties and mass distributions within identical cluster simulations run with and without magnetic fields to investigate whether they affect the stripping rate of gas from satellite subhalos. To determine this, we track the dark matter and gas masses of subhalos across time. We present our comparisons between the evolution of the subhalo populations in both runs as well as detailed maps showing the morphological impact of magnetic fields on subhalo gas. We find that although global properties in the cluster are not significantly affected by magnetic fields, substructures are more collapsed with the inclusion of the fields and the morphologies of subhalos are distinct between simulation runs. Additionally, the fraction of subhalos that retain some gas mass is higher with magnetic fields, and for those that lose all gas mass the process takes longer and happens at smaller cluster radii.

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