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Conditions triggering the onset of AGN activity in clusters

Ascertain the physical conditions that trigger the onset of AGN activity in brightest central galaxies of galaxy clusters.

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Background

The paper notes that AGN jets and bubbles are key agents in heating the intracluster medium and supplying cosmic-ray electrons, yet the physical triggers for initiating AGN outbursts remain poorly constrained.

Multiple X-ray cavities in several systems indicate recurrent activity, but identifying the specific environmental and accretion conditions that start an AGN cycle is still unresolved.

References

While the conditions that lead to the onset of AGN activity are not fully known, it is clear that multiple cycles of activity can occur as hinted by the existence of multiple X-ray cavities due to the radio activity in the brightest central galaxy (Fabian et al. 2005; Vantyghem et al. 2014; Hlavacek-Larrondo et al. 2015; Ubertosi et al. 2024).

— Jet interaction with galaxy cluster mergers (2406.19681 - Domínguez-Fernández et al., 28 Jun 2024) in Section 1. Introduction