Formation mechanism and multiphase connection of cluster filaments

Establish detailed constraints on the formation mechanisms producing the multiphase filaments in cool-core (cooling flow) galaxy clusters and elucidate the physical connection among the hot X-ray–emitting intracluster medium, the warm ionized Hα-emitting gas (~10,000 K), and the cold molecular gas (<100 K) within these filaments.

Background

Cooling flow clusters host prominent multiphase filaments that are believed to result from thermally unstable cooling potentially triggered by AGN feedback and Chaotic Cold Accretion (CCA). While this work quantitatively demonstrates a tight correlation between Hα and X-ray surface brightness, the broader physical picture of how the filaments form and how the hot, warm, and cold phases are connected remains unresolved.

Clarifying the formation pathways and inter-phase coupling is essential to understand AGN feeding and feedback cycles, the role of turbulence and mixing, and the observed near-constant emission ratios across filaments.