Engineering topics

Dolag, K

Publications and source records attributed to Dolag, K.

3 records

DOE OSTI2012

MHD SIMULATIONS OF ACTIVE GALACTIC NUCLEUS JETS IN A DYNAMIC GALAXY CLUSTER MEDIUM

We present a pair of three-dimensional magnetohydrodynamical simulations of intermittent jets from a central active galactic nucleus (AGN) in a galaxy cluster extracted from a high-resolution cosmological simulation. The selected cluster was chosen as an apparently relatively relaxed system, not having undergone a major merger in almost 7 Gyr. Despite this characterization and history, the intracluster medium (ICM) contains quite active 'weather'. We explore the effects of this ICM weather on the morphological evolution of the AGN jets and lobes. The orientation of the jets is different in the two simulations so that they probe different aspects of the ICM structure and dynamics. We find that even for this cluster, which can be characterized as relaxed by an observational standard, the large-scale, bulk ICM motions can significantly distort the jets and lobes. Synthetic X-ray observations of the simulations show that the jets produce complex cavity systems, while synthetic radio observations reveal bending of the jets and lobes similar to wide-angle tail radio sources. The jets are cycled on and off with a 26 Myr period using a 50% duty cycle. This leads to morphological features similar to those in 'double-double' radio galaxies. While the jet and ICM magnetic fields are generally too weak in the simulations to play a major role in the dynamics, Maxwell stresses can still become locally significant.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

DOE OSTI2011

LOWER LIMIT ON THE STRENGTH AND FILLING FACTOR OF EXTRAGALACTIC MAGNETIC FIELDS

High-energy photons from blazars can initiate electromagnetic pair cascades interacting with the extragalactic photon background. The charged component of such cascades is deflected and delayed by extragalactic magnetic fields (EGMFs), thereby reducing the observed point-like flux and potentially leading to multi-degree images in the GeV energy range. We calculate the fluence of 1ES 0229+200 as seen by Fermi-LAT for different EGMF profiles using a Monte Carlo simulation for the cascade development. The non-observation of 1ES 0229+200 by Fermi-LAT suggests that the EGMF fills at least 60% of space with fields stronger than O(10{sup -16} to 10{sup -15}) G for lifetimes of TeV activity of O(10{sup 2} to 10{sup 4}) yr. Thus, the (non-)observation of GeV extensions around TeV blazars probes the EGMF in voids and puts strong constraints on the origin of EGMFs: either EGMFs were generated in a space filling manner (e.g., primordially) or EGMFs produced locally (e.g., by galaxies) have to be efficiently transported to fill a significant volume fraction as, e.g., by galactic outflows.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

DOE OSTI2010

SIMULATING MAGNETIC FIELDS IN THE ANTENNAE GALAXIES

We present self-consistent high-resolution simulations of NGC 4038/4039 (the 'Antennae galaxies') including star formation, supernova feedback, and magnetic fields performed with the N-body/smoothed particle hydrodynamic (SPH) code GADGET, in which magnetohydrodynamics are followed with the SPH method. We vary the initial magnetic field in the progenitor disks from 10{sup -9} to 10{sup -4} G. At the time of the best match with the central region of the Antennae system, the magnetic field has been amplified by compression and shear flows to an equilibrium field value of {approx}10 {mu}G, independent of the initial seed field. These simulations are a proof of the principle that galaxy mergers are efficient drivers for the cosmic evolution of magnetic fields. We present a detailed analysis of the magnetic field structure in the central overlap region. Simulated radio and polarization maps are in good morphological and quantitative agreement with the observations. In particular, the two cores with the highest synchrotron intensity and ridges of regular magnetic fields between the cores and at the root of the southern tidal arm develop naturally in our simulations. This indicates that the simulations are capable of realistically following the evolution of the magnetic fields in a highly nonlinear environment. We also discuss the relevance of the amplification effect for present-day magnetic fields in the context of hierarchical structure formation.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗