The protogalactic origin for cosmic magnetic fields

It is demonstrated that strong magnetic fields are produced from a zero initial magnetic field during the pregalactic era, when the galaxy is first forming. Their development proceeds in three phases. In the first phase, weak magnetic fields are created by the Biermann battery mechanism. During the second phase, results from a numerical simulation make it appear likely that homogenous isotropic Kolmogorov turbulence develops that is associated with gravitational structure formation of galaxies. Assuming that this turbulence is real, then these weak magnetic fields will be amplified to strong magnetic fields by this Kolmogorov turbulence. During this second phase, the magnetic fields reach saturation with the turbulent power, but they are coherent only on the scale of the smallest eddy. During the third phase, which follows this saturation, it is expected that the magnetic field strength will increase to equipartition with the turbulent energy and that the coherence length of the magnetic fields will increase to the scale of the largest turbulent eddy, comparable to the scale of the entire galaxy. The resulting magnetic field represents a galactic magnetic field of primordial origin. No further dynamo action after the galaxy forms is necessary to explain the origin of magnetic fields. However, the magnetic field will certainly be altered by dynamo action once the galaxy and the galactic disk have formed. It is first shown by direct numerical simulations that thermoelectric currents associated with the Biermann battery build the field up from zero to 10(-21) G in the regions about to collapse into galaxies, by z similar to 3. For weak fields, in the absence of dissipation, the cyclotron frequency -omega(cyc) = eB/m(H)c and omega/(1 + chi), where omega = del x upsilon is the vorticity and chi is the degree of ionization, satisfy the same equations, and initial conditions omega(cyc) = omega = 0, so that, globally, -omega(cyc)(r, t) = omega(r, t)/(1 + chi). The vorticity grows rapidly after caustics (extreme nonlinearities) develop in the cosmic fluid. At this time, it is made plausible that turbulence has developed into Kolmogorov turbulence. Numerical simulations do not yet have the resolution to demonstrate that, during the second phase, the magnetic fields are amplified by the dynamo action of the turbulence. Instead, an analytic theory of the turbulent amplification of magnetic fields is employed to explore this phase of the magnetic field development. From this theory, it is shown that, assuming the turbulence is really Kolmogorov turbulence, the dynamo action of this protogalactic turbulence is able to amplify the magnetic fields by such a large factor during the collapse of the protogalaxy that the power into the magnetic field must reach saturation with the turbulent power. For the third phase, there is as yet no analytic theory capable of describing this phase. However, preliminary turbulence calculations currently in progress seem to confirm that the magnetic fields may proceed to equipartition with the turbulent energy, and that the coherence length may increase to the largest scales. Simple physical arguments are presented that show that this may be the case. Such an equipartition field is actually too strong to allow immediate collapse to a disk. Possible ways around this difficulty are discussedopen2553

High Energy Cosmic Rays From Supernovae

Cosmic rays are charged relativistic particles that reach the Earth with extremely high energies, providing striking evidence of the existence of effective accelerators in the Universe. Below an energy around $\sim 10^{17}$ eV cosmic rays are believed to be produced in the Milky Way while above that energy their origin is probably extragalactic. In the early '30s supernovae were already identified as possible sources for the Galactic component of cosmic rays. After the '70s this idea has gained more and more credibility thanks to the the development of the diffusive shock acceleration theory, which provides a robust theoretical framework for particle energization in astrophysical environments. Afterwards, mostly in recent years, much observational evidence has been gathered in support of this framework, converting a speculative idea in a real paradigm. In this Chapter the basic pillars of this paradigm will be illustrated. This includes the acceleration mechanism, the non linear effects produced by accelerated particles onto the shock dynamics needed to reach the highest energies, the escape process from the sources and the transportation of cosmic rays through the Galaxy. The theoretical picture will be corroborated by discussing several observations which support the idea that supernova remnants are effective cosmic ray factories.Comment: Final draft of a chapter in "Handbook of Supernovae" edited by Athem W. Alsabti and Paul Murdi

Laboratory evidence of dynamo amplification of magnetic fields in a turbulent plasma

Magnetic fields are ubiquitous in the Universe. The energy density of these fields is typically comparable to the energy density of the fluid motions of the plasma in which they are embedded, making magnetic fields essential players in the dynamics of the luminous matter. The standard theoretical model for the origin of these strong magnetic fields is through the amplification of tiny seed fields via turbulent dynamo to the level consistent with current observations. However, experimental demonstration of the turbulent dynamo mechanism has remained elusive, since it requires plasma conditions that are extremely hard to re-create in terrestrial laboratories. Here we demonstrate, using laser-produced colliding plasma flows, that turbulence is indeed capable of rapidly amplifying seed fields to near equipartition with the turbulent fluid motions. These results support the notion that turbulent dynamo is a viable mechanism responsible for the observed present-day magnetization

Origin of Cosmic Magnetic Fields

We propose that the overlapping shock fronts from young supernova remnants produce a locally unsteady, but globally steady large scale spiral shock front in spiral galaxies, where star formation and therefore massive star explosions correlate geometrically with spiral structure. This global shock front with its steep gradients in temperature, pressure and associated electric fields will produce drifts, which in turn give rise to a strong sheet-like electric current, we propose. This sheet current then produces a large scale magnetic field, which is regular, and connected to the overall spiral structure. This rejuvenates the overall magnetic field continuously, and also allows to understand that there is a regular field at all in disk galaxies. This proposal connects the existence of magnetic fields to accretion in disks. We not yet address all the symmetries of the magnetic field here; the picture proposed here is not complete. X-ray observations may be able to test it already.Comment: 18 pages, no figures; to be published in Proc. Palermo Meeting Sept. 2002, Eds. N. G. Sanchez et al., The Early Universe and the Cosmic Microwave Background: Theory and Observation

Cosmic rays and molecular clouds

This paper deals with the cosmic-ray penetration into molecular clouds and with the related gamma--ray emission. High energy cosmic rays interact with the dense gas and produce neutral pions which in turn decay into two gamma rays. This makes molecular clouds potential sources of gamma rays, especially if they are located in the vicinity of a powerful accelerator that injects cosmic rays in the interstellar medium. The amplitude and duration in time of the cosmic--ray overdensity around a given source depend on how quickly cosmic rays diffuse in the turbulent galactic magnetic field. For these reasons, gamma-ray observations of molecular clouds can be used both to locate the sources of cosmic rays and to constrain the properties of cosmic-ray diffusion in the Galaxy.Comment: To appear in the proceedings of the San Cugat Forum on Astrophysics 2012, 27 pages, 10 figure

The First Stars

The first stars to form in the Universe -- the so-called Population III stars -- bring an end to the cosmological Dark Ages, and exert an important influence on the formation of subsequent generations of stars and on the assembly of the first galaxies. Developing an understanding of how and when the first Population III stars formed and what their properties were is an important goal of modern astrophysical research. In this review, I discuss our current understanding of the physical processes involved in the formation of Population III stars. I show how we can identify the mass scale of the first dark matter halos to host Population III star formation, and discuss how gas undergoes gravitational collapse within these halos, eventually reaching protostellar densities. I highlight some of the most important physical processes occurring during this collapse, and indicate the areas where our current understanding remains incomplete. Finally, I discuss in some detail the behaviour of the gas after the formation of the first Population III protostar. I discuss both the conventional picture, where the gas does not undergo further fragmentation and the final stellar mass is set by the interplay between protostellar accretion and protostellar feedback, and also the recently advanced picture in which the gas does fragment and where dynamical interactions between fragments have an important influence on the final distribution of stellar masses.Comment: 72 pages, 4 figures. Book chapter to appear in "The First Galaxies - Theoretical Predictions and Observational Clues", 2012 by Springer, eds. V. Bromm, B. Mobasher, T. Wiklin

The Dynamical Structure and Evolution of Giant Molecular Clouds

Giant molecular clouds (GMCs) are the sites of star formation in the Galaxy. Many of their properties can be understood in terms of a model in which the GMCs and the star-forming clumps within them are in approximate pressure equilibrium, with turbulent motions treated as a separate pressure component

Weak and strong solutions of equations of compressible magnetohydrodynamics

International audienceThis article proposes a review of the analysis of the system of magnetohydrodynamics (MHD). First, we give an account of the modelling asumptions. Then, the results of existence of weak solutions, using the notion of renormalized solutions. Then, existence of strong solutions in the neighbourhood of equilibrium states is reviewed, in particular with the method of Kawashima and Shizuta. Finally, the special case of dimension one is highlighted : the use of Lagrangian coordinates gives a simpler system, which is solved by standard techniques

The tearing instability of resistive magnetohydrodynamics

In this chapter we explore the linear onset of one of the most important instabilities of resistive magnetohydrodynamics, the tearing instability. In particular, we focus on two important aspects of the onset of tearing: asymptotic (modal) stability and transient (non-modal) stability. We discuss the theory required to understand these two aspects of stability, both of which have undergone significant development in recent years