A Parameter Space Exploration of Galaxy Cluster Mergers

Relevant Papers

• ZuHone, J. A. 2011, ApJ, 728, 54

Set Characteristics

• Code: FLASH

• Simulation type: AMR

• Box size: L = 14.26 Mpc

• Finest cell size: \(\Delta{x}_{\rm min}\) = 6.96 kpc

• Primary cluster mass: \(M_{200} = 6~{\times}~10^{14}~M_{\odot}\)

Notes

• There is no metallicity field in these simulations; hence for computing X-ray emissivities a constant metallicity of \(Z = 0.3~Z_\odot\) is assumed.

Cosmology

Note

For non-cosmological simulations such as this one, a cosmology and redshift are assumed for the purposes of calculating distance and redshift-dependent quantities.

• \(\Lambda{\rm CDM}\) cosmology

• \(H_0 = 71~{\rm km~s^{-1}~Mpc^{-1}}\)

• \(\Omega_m = 0.27\)

• \(\Omega_\Lambda = 0.73\)

• \(z = 0.05\) for all epochs

Simulations

For the following simulations, \(R\) is the mass ratio between the two clusters and \(b\) is the initial impact parameter in kpc.

• R = 1:1, b = 0 kpc
• R = 1:1, b = 500 kpc
• R = 1:1, b = 1000 kpc
• R = 1:3, b = 0 kpc
• R = 1:3, b = 500 kpc
• R = 1:3, b = 1000 kpc
• R = 1:10, b = 0 kpc
• R = 1:10, b = 500 kpc
• R = 1:10, b = 1000 kpc

Acknowledgements

The original set of simulations was performed using the computational resources of Argonne National Laboratory and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, with this updated and improved set performed using the Pleiades supercomputer at NASA’s Ames Research Center.