scholarly journals Constraining magnetic fields in galaxy clusters

2018 ◽  
Vol 14 (A30) ◽  
pp. 299-302
Author(s):  
Annalisa Bonafede ◽  
Chiara Stuardi ◽  
Federica Savini ◽  
Franco Vazza ◽  
Marcus Brüggen

AbstractMagnetic fields originate small-scale instabilities in the plasma of the intra-cluster medium, and may have a key role to understand particle acceleration mechanisms. Recent observations at low radio frequencies have revealed that synchrotron emission from galaxy clusters is more various and complicated than previously thought, and new types of radio sources have been observed. In the last decade, big steps forward have been done to constrain the magnetic field properties in clusters thanks to a combined approach of polarisation observations and numerical simulations that aim to reproduce Faraday Rotation measures of sources observed through the intra-cluster medium. In this contribution, I will review the results on magnetic fields reached in the last years, and I will discuss the assumptions that have been done so far in light of new results obtained from cosmological simulations. I will also discuss how the next generation of radio instruments, as the SKA, will help improving our knowledge of the magnetic field in the intra-cluster medium.

2008 ◽  
Vol 4 (S254) ◽  
pp. 95-96
Author(s):  
Arthur M. Wolfe ◽  
Regina A. Jorgenson ◽  
Timothy Robishaw ◽  
Carl Heiles ◽  
Jason X. Prochaska

AbstractThe magnetic field pervading our Galaxy is a crucial constituent of the interstellar medium: it mediates the dynamics of interstellar clouds, the energy density of cosmic rays, and the formation of stars (Beck 2005). The field associated with ionized interstellar gas has been determined through observations of pulsars in our Galaxy. Radio-frequency measurements of pulse dispersion and the rotation of the plane of linear polarization, i.e., Faraday rotation, yield an average value B ≈ 3 μG (Han et al. 2006). The possible detection of Faraday rotation of linearly polarized photons emitted by high-redshift quasars (Kronberg et al. 2008) suggests similar magnetic fields are present in foreground galaxies with redshifts z > 1. As Faraday rotation alone, however, determines neither the magnitude nor the redshift of the magnetic field, the strength of galactic magnetic fields at redshifts z > 0 remains uncertain.Here we report a measurement of a magnetic field of B ≈ 84 μG in a galaxy at z =0.692, using the same Zeeman-splitting technique that revealed an average value of B = 6 μG in the neutral interstellar gas of our Galaxy (Heiles et al. 2004). This is unexpected, as the leading theory of magnetic field generation, the mean-field dynamo model, predicts large-scale magnetic fields to be weaker in the past, rather than stronger (Parker 1970).The full text of this paper was published in Nature (Wolfe et al. 2008).


2019 ◽  
Vol 488 (3) ◽  
pp. 3439-3445 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sharanya Sur

Abstract We explore the decay of turbulence and magnetic fields generated by fluctuation dynamo action in the context of galaxy clusters where such a decaying phase can occur in the aftermath of a major merger event. Using idealized numerical simulations that start from a kinetically dominated regime we focus on the decay of the steady state rms velocity and the magnetic field for a wide range of conditions that include varying the compressibility of the flow, the forcing wavenumber, and the magnetic Prandtl number. Irrespective of the compressibility of the flow, both the rms velocity and the rms magnetic field decay as a power law in time. In the subsonic case we find that the exponent of the power law is consistent with the −3/5 scaling reported in previous studies. However, in the transonic regime both the rms velocity and the magnetic field initially undergo rapid decay with an ≈t−1.1 scaling with time. This is followed by a phase of slow decay where the decay of the rms velocity exhibits an ≈−3/5 scaling in time, while the rms magnetic field scales as ≈−5/7. Furthermore, analysis of the Faraday rotation measure (RM) reveals that the Faraday RM also decays as a power law in time ≈t−5/7; steeper than the ∼t−2/5 scaling obtained in previous simulations of magnetic field decay in subsonic turbulence. Apart from galaxy clusters, our work can have potential implications in the study of magnetic fields in elliptical galaxies.


2015 ◽  
Vol 11 (A29B) ◽  
pp. 699-699
Author(s):  
Klaus Dolag ◽  
Alexander M. Beck ◽  
Alexander Arth

AbstractUsing the MHD version of Gadget3 (Stasyszyn, Dolag & Beck 2013) and a model for the seeding of magnetic fields by supernovae (SN), we performed simulations of the evolution of the magnetic fields in galaxy clusters and study their effects on the heat transport within the intra cluster medium (ICM). This mechanism – where SN explosions during the assembly of galaxies provide magnetic seed fields – has been shown to reproduce the magnetic field in Milky Way-like galactic halos (Beck et al. 2013). The build up of the magnetic field at redshifts before z = 5 and the accordingly predicted rotation measure evolution are also in good agreement with current observations. Such magnetic fields present at high redshift are then transported out of the forming protogalaxies into the large-scale structure and pollute the ICM (in a similar fashion to metals transport). Here, complex velocity patterns, driven by the formation process of cosmic structures are further amplifying and distributing the magnetic fields. In galaxy clusters, the magnetic fields therefore get amplified to the observed μG level and produce the observed amplitude of rotation measures of several hundreds of rad/m2. We also demonstrate that heat conduction in such turbulent fields on average is equivalent to a suppression factor around 1/20th of the classical Spitzer value and in contrast to classical, isotropic heat transport leads to temperature structures within the ICM compatible with observations (Arth et al. 2014).


1998 ◽  
Vol 184 ◽  
pp. 351-352 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Hoernes ◽  
R. Beck ◽  
E.M. Berkhuijsen

At the centre of M31 the nonthermal spectral index between λ20 cm and λ6 cm is −0.2. It slowly decreases along the southern arm and the northern filaments visible in Hα, but perpendicular to these features it increases much faster. The magnetic field runs along the arm and the filaments. These phenomena suggest the existence of a mono-energetic source of relativistic electrons in the nucleus.


1990 ◽  
Vol 140 ◽  
pp. 54-54
Author(s):  
R.R. Andreassian ◽  
A.N. Makarov

The present paper is devoted to a study of the magnetic field configuration of our Galaxy based on Faraday rotation measures (RM) of 185 pulsars and 802 extragalactic radio sources. RM data of pulsars located near the plane of the Galaxy are used for the study of magnetic fields in neighbouring spiral arms. For the distribution of spiral arms the well-known model of Georgelin and Georgelin (1976) is used. The calculations show (for details see Andreassian and Makarov, 1987, 1989) that in the Perseus spiral arm and the local Orion arm the magnetic fields have approximately the same directions (lo;bo) ≈ (80°;0°), while in the Sagittarius-Carina arm the magnetic field has an opposite direction.


2017 ◽  
Vol 27 (01) ◽  
pp. 1750184 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maxim Dvornikov

We analyze the magnetic field evolution in dense quark matter with unbroken chiral symmetry, which can be found inside quark and hybrid stars. The magnetic field evolves owing to the chiral magnetic effect in the presence of the electroweak interaction between quarks. In our study, we also take into account the magnetohydrodynamic turbulence effects in dense quark matter. We derive the kinetic equations for the spectra of the magnetic helicity density and the magnetic energy density as well as for the chiral imbalances. On the basis of the numerical solution of these equations, we find that turbulence effects are important for the behavior of small scale magnetic fields. It is revealed that, under certain initial conditions, these magnetic fields behave similarly to the electromagnetic flashes of some magnetars. We suggest that fluctuations of magnetic fields, described in frames of our model, which are created in the central regions of a magnetized compact star, can initiate magnetar bursts.


Several recent investigations in geophysics and astrophysics have involved a consideration of the hydrodynamics of a fluid which is a good electrical conductor. In this paper one of the problems which seem likely to arise in such investigations is discussed. The fluid is assumed to be incompressible and in homogeneous turbulent motion, and externally imposed electric and magnetic fields are assumed to be absent. The equations governing the interaction of the electromagnetic field and the turbulent motion are set up with the same assumptions as are used to obtain the Maxwell and current flow equations for a metallic conductor. It is shown that the equation for the magnetic field is identical in form with that for the vorticity in a non-conducting fluid; immediate deductions are that lines of magnetic force move with the fluid when the conductivity is infinite, and that the small-scale components of the turbulence have the more powerful effect on the magnetic field. The first question considered is the stability of a purely hydrodynamical system to small disturbing magnetic fields, and it is shown that the magnetic energy of the disturbance will increase provided the conductivity is greater than a critical value determined by the viscosity of the fluid. The rate of growth of magnetic energy is approximately exponential, with a doubling time which can be simply related to the properties of the turbulence. General mechanical considerations suggest that a steady state is reached when the magnetic field has as much energy as is contained in the small-scale components of the turbulence. Estimates of this amount of energy and of the region of the spectrum in which it will lie are given in terms of observable properties of the turbulence.


Author(s):  
R. R. Andreasyan

We bring results of some our investigations of magnetic field of our Galaxy and extragalactic radio sources. For the study were used data of Faraday rotation of pulsars and extragalactic radio sources as well as data of physical and morphological properties of more than 500 radio galaxies of different morphological classes.


Author(s):  
Robert Cameron

The solar dynamo is the action of flows inside the Sun to maintain its magnetic field against Ohmic decay. On small scales the magnetic field is seen at the solar surface as a ubiquitous “salt-and-pepper” disorganized field that may be generated directly by the turbulent convection. On large scales, the magnetic field is remarkably organized, with an 11-year activity cycle. During each cycle the field emerging in each hemisphere has a specific East–West alignment (known as Hale’s law) that alternates from cycle to cycle, and a statistical tendency for a North-South alignment (Joy’s law). The polar fields reverse sign during the period of maximum activity of each cycle. The relevant flows for the large-scale dynamo are those of convection, the bulk rotation of the Sun, and motions driven by magnetic fields, as well as flows produced by the interaction of these. Particularly important are the Sun’s large-scale differential rotation (for example, the equator rotates faster than the poles), and small-scale helical motions resulting from the Coriolis force acting on convective motions or on the motions associated with buoyantly rising magnetic flux. These two types of motions result in a magnetic cycle. In one phase of the cycle, differential rotation winds up a poloidal magnetic field to produce a toroidal field. Subsequently, helical motions are thought to bend the toroidal field to create new poloidal magnetic flux that reverses and replaces the poloidal field that was present at the start of the cycle. It is now clear that both small- and large-scale dynamo action are in principle possible, and the challenge is to understand which combination of flows and driving mechanisms are responsible for the time-dependent magnetic fields seen on the Sun.


2017 ◽  
Vol 13 (S336) ◽  
pp. 285-286
Author(s):  
Daria Dall’Olio ◽  
W. H. T. Vlemmings ◽  
G. Surcis ◽  
H. Beuther ◽  
B. Lankhaar ◽  
...  

AbstractTheoretical simulations have shown that magnetic fields play an important role in massive star formation: they can suppress fragmentation in the star forming cloud, enhance accretion via disc and regulate outflows and jets. However, models require specific magnetic configurations and need more observational constraints to properly test the impact of magnetic fields. We investigate the magnetic field structure of the massive protostar IRAS18089-1732, analysing 6.7 GHz CH3OH maser MERLIN observations. IRAS18089-1732 is a well studied high mass protostar, showing a hot core chemistry, an accretion disc and a bipolar outflow. An ordered magnetic field oriented around its disc has been detected from previous observations of polarised dust. This gives us the chance to investigate how the magnetic field at the small scale probed by masers relates to the large scale field probed by the dust.


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