Dartmouth Events

Abstract: In the past several decades it has become clear that mechanical (radio-mode) feedback from supermassive blackholes is necessary to moderate the growth of the most massive galaxies in which they reside. In particular, in the cores of galaxy clusters, the evolution of giant elliptical galaxies appear to be primarily governed by black hole feedback. Despite its apparent importance, our understanding of how feedback works is quite incomplete, particularly when it comes to mechanical or radio-mode feedback. In this talk I will discuss two directions that we are pursuing to understand the balance between cooling and feedback in galaxy cluster cores: (i) identifying systems for which feedback appears to not work, in an effort to understand the limitations and failure modes of the feedback/cooling cycle, and (ii) searching for evidence of AGN feedback in the cores of the most distant galaxy clusters. These efforts are made possible by combining data from a variety of X-ray, optical, mm-wave, and radio telescopes, including Chandra, Hubble, James Webb, and the South Pole Telescope.