Dissertation

Cosmic particle acceleration by shocks and turbulence in merging galaxy clusters

In this thesis, I study the formation of large-scale structure and the physics of particle acceleration at large scales (~Mpc).

Author: Hoang, D.N.
Date: 26 June 2019
Links: Thesis in Leiden Repository

In this thesis, I study the formation of large-scale structure and the physics of particle acceleration at large scales (~Mpc). The object of my study is clusters of galaxies that are in the formation process. Galaxy clusters form through a sequence of mergers of sub-clusters. During the formation of galaxy clusters, shocks and turbulence are generated in the intra-cluster medium (ICM). These shocks and turbulence (re-)accelerate cosmic ray (CR) particles to relativistic speeds. In the presence of magnetic fields, the CR particles emit synchrotron radiation that we can observe with radio telescopes. I also combine radio data with X-ray and optical data to study these clusters. Studies of these merging galaxy clusters help us to understand the physics of particle acceleration at cosmic scales