The Secret Lives of Galaxy Clusters

Brian O'Shea

Michigan State University

Galaxy clusters have the potential to be highly accurate probes of cosmological parameters. However, they are also very interesting astrophysical objects in their own right! The properties that make clusters irritating to those who wish to use them for cosmology - deviations from sphericity and hydrostatic equilibrium, shocks, mergers, and a variety of baryonic processes - provide a tremendous amount of information about these massive beasts . I will present recent efforts to understand the effects that correctly modeling the properties of gas in cosmological simulations have on the observable properties of clusters, focusing on shocks and the non-thermal components of the intracluster medium, including cosmic rays and magnetic fields. Time permitting, I will also discuss recent work on studies of the enrichment of the intergalactic medium with metals.