Using electron scattering to probe the environment of cluster cooling flows

Abstract

The electron-scattered surface brightness profiles are calculated for a strong central source embedded in a cluster cooling flow, and the profiles are used to discuss the physical state of the gas in the flow and the behavior of the central source. The effects of temporal variations in the luminosity of the central source are calculated for a burst model and a source whose luminosity increases linearly with time. If the emission from the central AGN is polarized, the surface brightness profiles have cusps along the direction of the projection of the normal to the polarization vector on the sky. The 2D surface brightness profiles produced by beamed radiation are calculated.