The astrophysics of the intracluster plasma

Since 1971 observations in X rays of several thousands of galaxy clusters have uncovered huge amounts of hot baryons filling up the deep gravitational potential wells provided by dark matter (DM) halos with masses of some 1015 M&sun; and sizes of millions of light-years. At temperatures T~108 K and with average densities of n~1 particle per liter, such baryons add up to some 1014 M&sun;. With the neutralizing electrons, they constitute the best proton-electron plasma in the Universe (whence the apt name Intra Cluster Plasma, ICP), one where the thermal energy per particle overwhelms the electron-proton Coulomb interaction by extralarge factors of order 1012. The ICP shines in X rays by thermal bremsstrahlung radiation, with powers up to several 1045erg s-1 equivalent to some 1011 solar luminosities. The first observations were soon confirmed in X rays by the detection of high excitation emission lines, and in the radio band by studies of streamlined radiogalaxies moving through the ICP. Later on they were nailed down by the first measurements in microwaves of the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect, i.e., the inverse Compton upscattering of cold cosmic background photons at T≈2.73 K off the hot ICP electrons at kBT~5 keV. A key physical feature of the ICP is constituted by its good local thermal equilibrium, and by its overall hydrostatic condition in the DM wells, modulated by entropy. The latter is set up in the cluster center by the initial halo collapse, and is progressively added at the outgrowing cluster boundary by standing shocks in the supersonic flow of intergalactic gas into the DM potential wells. Such physical conditions are amenable to detailed modeling. We review here these entropy-based models and discuss their outcomes and predictions concerning the ICP observables in X rays and in microwaves, as well as the underlying DM parameters. These quantitative outcomes highlight the tight relationship between the detailed ICP profiles and the cosmological evolution of the containing DM potential wells. The results also provide the simplest baseline for disentangling a number of additional and intriguing physical processes superposed to the general equilibrium. The present Report is focused on the ICP physics as driven by the two-stage evolution of the containing DM halos. We extensively discuss the basic entropy pattern established by the cluster formation and development, and cover: the central entropy erosion produced by radiative cooling that competes with the intermittent energy inputs due to active galactic nuclei and mergers; outer turbulent support linked with weakening shocks and decreasing inflow through the virial boundary, causing reduced entropy production during the late stage of DM halo evolution; the development from high to low entropy levels throughout a typical cluster; perturbations of the equilibrium up to outright disruption due to deep impacts of infalling galaxy groups or collisions with comparable companion clusters; relativistic energy distributions of electrons accelerated during such events, producing extended radio emission by synchrotron radiation and contributing non thermal pressure support for the ICP. We conclude with discussing selected contributions from cluster astrophysics to cosmology at large, and by addressing how the ICP features and processes will constitute enticing targets for observations with the ongoing Planck mission, for upcoming instrumentation like ALMA and other ground-based radio observatories, and for the next-generation of X-ray satellites from ASTRO-H to eROSITA.