Dissertation
From atoms to the cosmos: exploring the cosmic web beyond collisional ionisation equilibrium
Nowadays, it is well known that hydrogen and helium (and small traces of lithium and beryllium) were created shortly after the Big Bang, while the heavier elements are created in the cores of stars at different evolutionary stages. When these stars explode as supernovae, they expel metals synthesised in their cores to the medium around them.
- Author
- L. Stofanová
- Date
- 13 November 2024
- Links
- Thesis in Leiden Repository
Our Universe, more specifically, the warm-hot intergalactic medium in the cosmic web filaments, the intra-cluster medium of galaxy clusters, and the circum-galactic medium around individual galaxies is full of such metals. By studying the medium of these massive astrophysical objects through spectroscopy, and by studying the impact of different feedback processes on the metal transport on various physical scales, we can get closer to the understanding of the origin and evolution of metals in some of the most massive objects in our Universe.In this Ph.D. thesis I focused on the spectroscopy of the cosmic web (filaments and galaxy clusters) with current and future X-ray telescopes. I showed that future X-ray micro-calorimeter missions will be sensitive to effects that have not yet been detected before. I also focused on the importance of updating the atomic databases and plasma codes in the X-ray regime.