Solving the cooling flow problem with combined jet-wind AGN feedback

Abstract

Active galactic nucleus (AGN) feedback is widely viewed as the most promising solution to the long-standing cooling flow problem in galaxy clusters, yet previous models prescribe jet properties inconsistent with accretion physics. We perform an idealized hydrodynamic simulation of a galaxy cluster with no merger history and a relaxed state, with its other properties similar to the Perseus cluster using the MACER framework, incorporating both jets and winds whose properties are constrained by general relativistic magnetohydrodynamic simulations of black hole accretion and observations. The combined feedback reproduces key observables, including cold gas mass, star formation rate, thermodynamic radial profiles, and black hole growth, while jet-only or wind-only models fail. The success arises from turbulence driven by jet-wind shear that enhances kinetic-to-thermal energy conversion, boosting heating efficiency by factors of three and six relative to wind-only and jet-only cases, respectively.