Bibcode
Tabatabaei, F. S.; Martinsson, T. P. K.; Knapen, J. H.; Beckman, J. E.; Koribalski, B.; Elmegreen, B. G.
Bibliographical reference
The Astrophysical Journal Letters, Volume 818, Issue 1, article id. L10, 6 pp. (2016).
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2
2016
Citations
24
Refereed citations
21
Description
The origin and evolution of cosmic magnetic fields as well as the
influence of the magnetic fields on the evolution of galaxies are
unknown. Though not without challenges, the dynamo theory can explain
the large-scale coherent magnetic fields that govern galaxies, but
observational evidence for the theory is so far very scarce. Putting
together the available data of non-interacting, non-cluster galaxies
with known large-scale magnetic fields, we find a tight correlation
between the integrated polarized flux density, SPI, and the
rotation speed, vrot, of galaxies. This leads to an almost
linear correlation between the large-scale magnetic field \bar{B} and
vrot, assuming that the number of cosmic-ray electrons is
proportional to the star formation rate, and a super-linear correlation
assuming equipartition between magnetic fields and cosmic rays. This
correlation cannot be attributed to an active linear α-Ω
dynamo, as no correlation holds with global shear or angular speed. It
indicates instead a coupling between the large-scale magnetic field and
the dynamical mass of the galaxies, \bar{B}∼
\{M}{{dyn}}0.25–0.4. Hence, faster rotating
and/or more massive galaxies have stronger large-scale magnetic fields.
The observed \bar{B}-{v}{{rot}} correlation shows that the
anisotropic turbulent magnetic field dominates \bar{B} in fast rotating
galaxies as the turbulent magnetic field, coupled with gas, is enhanced
and ordered due to the strong gas compression and/or local shear in
these systems. This study supports a stationary condition for the
large-scale magnetic field as long as the dynamical mass of galaxies is
constant.