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M. Arnaud (CEA - Service d'Astrophysique)
X-ray observations of clusters provide key cosmological information on the dark matter and on the formation of large scale structures, but also reveal the complexity of the Intra Cluster Medium (ICM) physics. The dynamical and thermodynamical state of the ICM is determined by gravitational processes (like shock heating during mergers or matter infall) but also by additional physics, such as non-gravitational heating, radiative cooling and central AGN activity.
Key information on these issues are currently provided by XMM observations. In particular, I will discuss the physics of merger events, the structural and scaling properties of hot and cool nearby relaxed clusters (temperature, entropy and mass profiles) and the evolution of cluster properties with redshift. I will also discuss XMM observations of the complex physics in cluster cores.
The author(s) of this abstract have provided an email address for comments about the abstract: marnaud@discovery.saclay.cea.fr
Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society,
35#2
© 2003. The American Astronomical Soceity.