Morphology and Mach Number Distribution of Merger Shock Surfaces in Merging Galaxy Clusters

Abstract

In a binary merger of two subclusters with comparable masses, a pair of merger shocks are typically generated, often manifesting as double radio relics. Using cosmological hydrodynamic simulations, we identify major merger events with mass ratio 1<M1/M2 less than or similar to 4 and impact parameter b/rvir,1 less than or similar to 1, where rvir,1 is the virial radius of the heavier subcluster. We analyze merger shock surfaces approximately 1 Gyr after the pericenter passage, focusing on their morphology and the distribution of the Mach number, Ms, of their constituent shock zones. The shock surfaces exhibit an elongated shape with a minor-to-major axis ratio of similar to 0.6-0.9 and cover the area of similar to 5%-20% of the enclosed sphere. The area ratio of the two shock surfaces roughly scales as Ass,2/Ass,1 proportional to M1/M2 , typically positioning the larger shock ahead of the lighter subcluster. The axis connecting the two subclusters generally does not pass through the centers of the shock surfaces, due to the nonzero impact parameter and ambient turbulent flows. The distribution of Ms of shock zones on each surface can be approximated by a log-normal function, peaking at Ms,peak approximate to 2-4.5 and extending up to similar to 10. The surface-area-weighted and X-ray- emissivity-weighted average Mach numbers are comparable, with < Ms > area approximate to 2.3-4.4 and < Ms > X approximate to 2-4 . In contrast, the cosmic-ray energy flux-weighted average Mach numbers are higher with < Ms > CR approximate to 3-5 . This discrepancy aligns with the differences between Mach numbers derived from X-ray and radio observations of radio relic shocks. On the other hand, we find that mostly < Ms > X greater than or similar to 2 for simulated merger shocks, although shocks with MX-ray less than or similar to 2 are often reported in observations.