Three-dimensional simulations of X-ray cavities inflated by radio
  galaxies
  Vast cavities in the intergalactic medium are excavated by radio galaxies.
The cavities appear as such in X-ray images because the external medium has
been swept up, leaving a hot but low density bubble surrounding the radio
lobes. We explore here the predicted thermal X-ray emission from a large set of
high-resolution three dimensional simulations of radio galaxies driven by
supersonic jets. We assume adiabatic non-relativistic hydrodynamics with
injected straight and precessing jets of supersonic gas emitted from nozzles.
Images of X-ray Bremsstrahlung emission tend to generate oval cavities in the
soft keV bands and leading arcuate structures in hard X-rays. However, the
cavity shape is sensitive to the jet-ambient density contrast, varying from
concave-shaped at $\eta = 0.1$ to convex for $\eta = 0.0001$ where $\eta$ is
the jet/ambient density ratio.
  We find lateral ribs in the soft X-rays in certain cases and propose this as
an explanation for those detected in the vicinity of Cygnus\,A. In bi-lobed or
X-shaped sources and in curved or deflected jets, the strongest X-ray emission
is not associated with the hotspot but with the relic lobe or deflection
location. This is because the hot high-pressure and dense high-compression
regions do not coincide. Directed toward the observer, the cavity becomes a
deep round hole surrounded by circular ripples. With short radio-mode outbursts
with a duty cycle of 10\% , the intracluster medium simmers with low Mach
number shocks widely dissipating the jet energy in between active jet episodes.
