Equilibrium models of galaxy clusters with cooling, heating, and conduction

It is generally argued that most clusters of galaxies host cooling flows in which radiative cooling in the center causes a slow inflow. However, recent observations by Chandra and XMM conflict with the predicted cooling flow rates. Among other mechanisms, heating by a central active galactic nucleus and thermal conduction have been invoked in order to account for the small mass deposition rates. Here we present a family of hydrostatic models for the intracluster medium where radiative losses are exactly balanced by thermal conduction and heating by a central source. We describe the features of this simple model and fit its parameters to the density and temperature profiles of Hydra A.