nIFTy galaxy cluster simulations - II. Radiative models

© 2016 The Authors Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Royal Astronomical Society.We have simulated the formation of a massive galaxy cluster (M200crit = 1.1 × 1015 h-1 M⊙) in a Λ cold dark matter universe using 10 different codes (RAMSES, 2 incarnations of arepo and 7 of gadget), modelling hydrodynamics with full radiative subgrid physics. These codes include smoothed-particle hydrodynamics (SPH), spanning traditional and advanced SPH schemes, adaptive mesh and moving mesh codes. Our goal is to study the consistency between simulated clusters modelled with different radiative physical implementations - such as cooling, star formation and thermal active galactic nucleus (AGN) feedback. We compare images of the cluster at z = 0, global properties such as mass, and radial profiles of various dynamical and thermodynamical quantities. We find that, with respect to non-radiative simulations, dark matter is more centrally concentrated, the extent not simply depending on the presence/absence of AGN feedback. The scatter in global quantities is substantially higher than for non-radiative runs. Intriguingly, adding radiative physics seems to have washed away the marked code-based differences present in the entropy profile seen for non-radiative simulations in Sembolini et al.: radiative physics + classic SPH can produce entropy cores, at least in the case of non cool-core clusters. Furthermore, the inclusion/absence of AGN feedback is not the dividing line -as in the case of describing the stellar content - for whether a code produces an unrealistic temperature inversion and a falling central entropy profile. However, AGN feedback does strongly affect the overall stellar distribution, limiting the effect of overcooling and reducing sensibly the stellar fraction.