Project Details
Projekt
Cosmological evolution of large-scale magnetic fields in galaxies and the intergalactic medium
Applicant
Dr. Rainer Beck
Subject Area
Astrophysics and Astronomy
Term
from 2009 to 2010
Project identifier
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 126526691
The magnetic field structure has been well studied only for nearby disk galaxies while their evolution is unexplored because of the limited sensitivity of present-day radio telescopes. The dominant population of sources at low flux densities observable with future radio telescopes is the population of star-forming disk galaxies which, e.g. with the SKA, would be detected up to about z ~ 3. Hence, the evolution of magnetic field structures can be studied by means of the evolution of total synchrotron and polarized radio emission from distant disk galaxies. Faraday rotation measurements of intervening disk galaxies towards polarized background quasars are even more powerful and will allow the evolution of magnetic fields to be traced to even higher redshifts, z ~ 5 with the SKA. In this project we aim (i) to develop evolutionary models for galactic and intergalactic magnetic fields, (ii) to develop tools for investigating the evolution of magnetic fields using the data from future radio surveys with the SKA and its pathfinders, and (iii) to test these tools with existing deep radio surveys. A better understanding of the history of magnetism in young galaxies may help to solve fundamental cosmological questions on the formation and evolution of galaxies.
DFG Programme
Priority Programmes
