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The magnetized universe: its origin and dissipation through acceleration and leakage to the voids

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 June 2011

Stirling A. Colgate ,
Hui Li  and
Philipp P. Kronberg
Stirling A. Colgate
Affiliation:
MS B227, Los Alamos Nat. Lab., Los Alamos, N.M., 87545, USA email: colgate@lanl.gov
Hui Li
Affiliation:
MS B227, Los Alamos Nat. Lab., Los Alamos, N.M., 87545, USA email: hli@lanl.gov
Philipp P. Kronberg
Affiliation:
MS T006, Los Alamos Nat. Lab., Los Alamos, N.M., 87545, USA email: kronberg@lanl.gov
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Abstract

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The consistency is awesome between over a dozen observations and the paradigm of radio lobes being immense sources of magnetic energy, flux, and relativistic electrons, – a magnetized universe.

The greater the total energy of an astrophysical phenomenon, the more restricted are the possible explanations. Magnetic energy is the most challenging because its origin is still considered problematic. We suggest that it is evident that the universe is magnetized because of radio lobes, ultra relativistic electrons, Faraday rotation measures, the polarized emission of extra galactic radio structures, the x-rays from relativistic electrons Comptonized on the CMB, and possibly extra galactic cosmic rays. The implied energies are so large that only the formation of supermassive black hole, (SMBH) at the center of every galaxy is remotely energetic enough to supply this immense energy, ~(1/10) 108M⊙c2 per galaxy. Only a galaxy cluster of 1000 galaxies has comparable energy, but it is inversely, (to the number of galaxies), rare per galaxy. Yet this energy appears to be shared between magnetic fields and accelerated relativistic particles, both electrons and ions. Only a large-scale coherent dynamo generating poloidal flux within the accretion disk forming the massive black hole makes a reasonable starting point. The subsequent winding of this dynamo-derived magnetic flux by conducting, angular momentum-dominated accreting matter, (~1011 turns near the event horizon in 108 years) produces the immense, coherent magnetic jets or total flux of radio lobes and similarly in star formation. By extending this same physics to supernova-neutron star formation, we predict that similar differential winding of the flux that couples explosion ejecta and a newly formed, rapidly rotating neutron star will produce similar phenomena of a magnetic jet and lobes in the forming supernova nebula. In all cases the conversion of force-free magnetic energy into accelerated ions and electrons is a major challenge.

Keywords

Magnetic fieldsMHDgalaxies: jetsacceleration of particles
Type
Contributed Papers
Information
Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union , Volume 6 , Symposium S274: Advances in Plasma Astrophysics , September 2010 , pp. 2 - 9
Copyright
Copyright © International Astronomical Union 2011

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