On the thermal conduction in tangled magnetic fields in clusters of galaxies

Abstract

Thermal conduction in tangled magnetic fields is reduced because heat conducting electrons must travel along the field lines longer distances between hot and cold regions of space than if there were no fields. We consider the case when the tangled magnetic field has a weak homogeneous component. We examine two simple models for temperature in clusters of galaxies: a time-independent model and a time-dependent one. We find that the actual value of the effective thermal conductivity in tangled magnetic fields depends on how it is defined for a particular astrophysical problem. Our final conclusion is that the heat conduction never totally suppressed but is usually important in the central regions of galaxy clusters, and therefore, it should not be neglected.