Open AccessEffect of turbulent diffusion on iron abundance profiles
Author(s) -
Rebusco P.,
Churazov E.,
Böhringer H.,
Forman W.
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
monthly notices of the royal astronomical society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.058
H-Index - 383
eISSN - 1365-2966
pISSN - 0035-8711
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2966.2006.10977.x
Subject(s) - physics , diffusion , cluster (spacecraft) , abundance (ecology) , astrophysics , galaxy , galaxy cluster , turbulence , statistical physics , mechanics , thermodynamics , fishery , biology , computer science , programming language
We compare the observed peaked iron abundance profiles for a small sample of groups and clusters with the predictions of a simple model involving the metal ejection from the brightest galaxy and the subsequent diffusion of metals by stochastic gas motions. Extending the analysis of Rebusco et al., we found that for five out of eight objects in the sample an effective diffusion coefficient of the order of 10 29 cm 2 s −1 is needed. For AWM4, Centaurus and AWM7 the results are different suggesting substantial intermittence in the process of metal spreading across the cluster. There is no obvious dependence of the diffusion coefficient on the mass of the system. We also estimated the characteristic velocities and the spatial scales of the gas motions needed to balance the cooling losses by the dissipation of the same gas motions. A comparison of the derived spatial scales and the sizes of observed radio bubbles inflated in the ICM by a central active galactic nucleus (AGN) suggests that the AGN/ICM interaction makes an important (if not a dominant) contribution to the gas motions in the cluster cores.