How do jets heat the clusters?

Galaxy clusters are filled with hot, X-ray emitting gas that is expected to cool and flow towards the cluster centre, yet observations show little evidence for the large cooling flows predicted by simple models. This “cooling-flow problem” points to a missing source of heating, with AGN jets emerging as a leading candidate.

Using high-resolution simulations, I investigate how large-scale AGN jets deposit their energy into the intracluster medium and regulate the cooling of the cluster gas.