Environmental Effects in Galaxy Evolution: A Radio Study of Ram Pressure Stripping in the Virgo Cluster

• Applicant: Professor Marcus Brüggen, Ph.D.
• Subject Area: Astrophysics and Astronomy
• Term: since 2025
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 558370136

The process of ram pressure stripping (RPS) is capable of displacing parts of the interstellar-medium (ISM) of galaxies, and can thus quench their star-forming activity and help transform their morphology. It is thought to be the dominant process causing the observed differences between galaxies in galaxy clusters and galaxies in the field. RPS can affect all phases of the ISM, including the non-thermal component, i.e. the magnetic fields and cosmic rays (CR). With radio continuum observations, we can study those non-thermal components via their synchrotron emission, which makes the radio window a well-suited diagnostic tool for RPS. Statistical studies have found that the radio-emission of star-forming galaxies is enhanced compared to other star formation tracers. Furthermore, RPS could also alter the spectral shape of the observed emission via ISM compression or in-situ shock-acceleration of CRs. While initial evidence exists that they indeed show steeper radio spectra, statistically significant observational constraints are missing. In this proposal, we would like to explore the origin of the radio excess in RPS galaxies, whether they indeed show steeper radio spectra, the time scales of ram pressure stripping, the origin of magnetic fields in the RPS tails and the effects of magnetic fields on the tails. We will address these topics with deep LOFAR and MeerKAT surveys of the Virgo cluster, complemented by X-ray and optical observations.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants