The Heating of the ICM: Energy Crisis and viable solutions

Abstract

X-ray observations indicate that non-gravitational processes play a key role in the thermodynamics of the Intra Cluster Medium (ICM). The effect of non-gravitational processes is imprinted in the ICM as an entropy minimum, whose effects are visible in the Luminosity-Temperature relation and in the Entropy-Temperature relation. However, the X-ray emission alone cannot discriminate between different mechanisms and sources of heating. There are no answers at present to the following questions: how much non-gravitational energy per baryons is present in the ICM? When was this energy injected? Which are the sources of heating? The embarrassment in front of these questions is amplified by the fact that the most viable sources of heating, SNae and stellar winds, seem to be inefficient in bringing the ICM to the observed entropy level. We may call it the energy crisis. Here we review the main aspects of this crisis, listing possible solutions, including other sources, like AGNs and Radio Galaxies, or other mechanisms, like large scale shocks and selective cooling.