Simulations of cosmic rays in large-scale structures: Numerical and physical effects

Abstract

Non-thermal (relativistic) particles are injected into the cosmos by structure formation shock waves, active galactic nuclei and stellar explosions. We present a suite of unigrid cosmological simulations (up to 20483) using a two-fluid model in the grid code ENZO. The simulations include the dynamical effects of cosmic ray (CR) protons and cover a range of theoretically motivated acceleration efficiencies. For the bulk of the cosmic volume the modelling of CR processes is rather stable with respect to resolution, provided that a minimum (cell) resolution of̃100 kpc h-1 is employed. However, the results for the innermost cluster regions depend on the assumptions for the baryonic physics. Inside clusters, non-radiative runs at high resolution tend to produce an energy density of CRs that are below available upper limits from the Fermi satellite, while the radiative runs are found to produce a higher budget of CRs. We show that weak (M ≤ 3-5) shocks and shock-re-acceleration are crucial to set the level of CRs in the innermost region of clusters, while in the outer regions the level of CR energy is mainly set via direct injection by stronger shocks, and is less sensitive to cooling and feedback from active galactic nuclei and supernovae. © 2014 The Author Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Royal Astronomical Society.