Faraday Rotation as a Diagnostic of Cosmic Magnetic Fields.pptVIP

Faraday Rotation as a Diagnostic of Cosmic Magnetic Fields Cosmic magnetic fields here means the solar corona as well as that of the ISM and elsewhere Faraday Rotation in the corona and elsewhere Plasma Contributions to the Faraday Rotation Integral An illustration of Faraday rotation Coronal Faraday Rotation Faraday rotation in the Interstellar Medium The measurement of currents in astrophysical plasmas “Do you have anything to say before we turn on the current?” Differential Faraday Rotation A difference in Rotation Measure between two closely-spaced lines of sight Differential Faraday Rotation and Ampere’s Law Differential Faraday Rotation and Ampere’s Law II Observations of Differential Faraday Rotation on August 16, 18 2004 Are differential Faraday rotation measurements seen through the ISM indications of interstellar currents? A new age of opportunity for cosmic Faraday rotation measurements; the availability of the EVLA Lower noise receivers Larger bandwidth Continuous frequency coverage Why continuous frequency coverage will be a great help in Faraday rotation measurements Old VLA… measurements in Lazio, Spangler, Cordes 1990, ApJ 363, 515 EVLA… continuous frequency coverage from 1.0 to 8.0 GHz and beyond Conclusion: Faraday rotation is an excellent diagnostic for magnetic fields large scale and turbulent in tenuous, collisionless cosmic plasmas The technique will yield new results in the future, with a new instrument, the EVLA * Steven R. Spangler University of Iowa Position angle rotation 1465 MHz 14 degrees Coronal RM 6 rad/sq-m Ingleby, Spangler, Whiting 2007, ApJ 668, 520 Expected level of coronal FR, given independent information Minter and Spangler 1996, ApJ 458, 194 Method utilized in Wisconsin Reversed Field Pinch RFP by Ding, Brower, et al PRL 90, 035002, 2003 Total Faraday Rotation Differential Faraday Rotation Inferred current of 2.5 GA between lines of sight separated by ~ 35,000 km *