| Description: | Clusters of galaxies are the most massive gravitationally bound structures in our Universe and form the nodes of the Cosmic Web. In addition to the up to thousands of member galaxies, galaxy clusters are permeated by the hot ionized diffuse plasma of the intracluster medium (ICM), which forms the dominant baryonic mass component of the cluster. Meanwhile, the member galaxies also feature supermassive black holes which feed on their surrounding gas supplies and output relativistic jets and outflows. Together, these ingredients make galaxy clusters strongly interacting systems of galaxies that display a spectacular range of astrophysics. Furthermore, these systems undergo a rich and violent merger history which subject galaxy clusters to some of the most energetic events in the Universe. Many of the processes that take place within clusters produce intense radio emission across a wide range of spatial scales, particularly towards the lowest radio frequencies. In recent years, LOFAR has continuously proven to be extremely well suited to study many phenomena within galaxy clusters thanks to its uniquely wide range of baseline lengths. In this talk, I will present recent LOFAR results all the way from Mpc scales down to a few dozen parsec, highlighting the impact that LOFAR has had on the field of galaxy cluster science and its potential to continue revolutionizing this field in the LOFAR2.0 era. |
