On the Growth of Diffuse Light from Simulations of Galaxy Clusters

Deep surface photometry reveals the presence in a good number of galaxy clusters, as well as in their
smaller counterparts, galaxy groups, of an extended, diffuse luminous component that fills the space
between galaxies. This intracluster light (ICL) is believed to originate from the disruption of the outermost
regions of the galaxies that make up these systems.
Our aim in this work is to make use of controlled numerical simulations of pre-virialized clusters to study
the formation of the diffuse ICL, and investigate its potential to describe the assembly history of such
systems of galaxies.
We are currently using our simulations to track the growth of the ICL over cosmic time, tracing its
evolution across clusters spanning a range of masses and galaxy memberships. Here, we present our
first results, where we analyzed the relationship of ICL formation with the mass and size of the brightest
galaxy in the cluster and its dependence on both the merger fraction and the efficiency of interactions.