Equilibrium Models of Galaxy Clusters with Cooling, Heating and Conduction

Abstract

It is generally argued that most clusters of galaxies host cooling flows in which radiative cooling in the centre causes a slow inflow. However, recent observations by Chandra and XMM conflict with the predicted cooling flow rates. Amongst other mechanisms, heating by a central active galactic nucleus and thermal conduction have been invoked in order to account for the small mass deposition rates. Here, we present a family of hydrostatic models for the intra-cluster medium where radiative losses are exactly balanced by thermal conduction and heating by a central source. We describe the features of this simple model and fit its parameters to the density and temperature profiles of Hydra A.