Mass constraints from multiphase cooling flow models

I review the multiphase cooling flow equations that reduce to a relatively simple form for a wide class of self-similar density distributions described by a single parameter, k. It is shown that steady-state cooling flows are not consistent with all possible emissivity profiles which can therefore be used as a test of the theory. In combination, they provide strong constraints on the temperature profile and mass distribution within the cooling radius. The model is applied to ROSAT HRI data for 3 Abell clusters. At one extreme (k ∼ 1) these show evidence for cores in the mass distribution of size 110–140 h 50 kpc and have temperatures which decline towards the flow centre. At the other (k 7→ ∞), the mass density and gas temperature both rise sharply towards the flow centre. The former are more consistent with measured temperatures, which suggests that the density distribution in the intracluster medium contains the minimum possible mixture of low-density components.