Discussion
Loading...

Post

  • About
  • Code of conduct
  • Privacy
  • Users
  • Instances
  • About Bonfire
franco_vazza
@franco_vazza@mastodon.social  ·  activity timestamp 3 weeks ago

#paperday:

"Can galactic magnetic fields diffuse into the voids?"
(answer: NO!)

https://arxiv.org/abs/2510.26918 by O. Ghosh et al., (including me) on #astroph today .

It is a necessary rebuttal to a recent paper (https://arxiv.org/abs/2505.14774) who claimed the possible magnetisation of voids by propagating a dipole solution for the magnetic fields of galaxies, assuming cosmic voids are textbook "vacua"
Not good at all!

#astronomy #astrophysics #science #physics

arXiv.org

Are magnetic fields in cosmic voids primordial?

The nature of magnetic fields in the voids of the large-scale structure of the Universe has been a multifaceted open puzzle for decades. On one hand, their origin is not clear with most of the magnetogenesis models using physics beyond the standard model in the early Universe, and on the other hand, their existence and potential role in explaining the spectra of TeV blazars have been intensely debated in the past decade. Here, we propose a mechanism, within classical electrodynamics, that could fill the voids with late-Universe fields and, under certain conditions, dispel the need for primordial fields altogether to explain the void fields. Specifically, we use the dipole component of the galactic fields to generate space-filling magnetic fields in voids with white-noise spectrum and sufficient amplitude to explain the lack of GeV halos around TeV blazars observed by Fermi-LAT. A definitive test for such fields in the voids will be the white-noise spectral shape, which will constrain possible plasma processes in the voids to the ones that allow for the propagation of these dipole fields into the voids.
arXiv.org

Can galactic magnetic fields diffuse into the voids?

Cosmic voids are magnetized at the level of at least $10^{-17}$ G on Mpc scales, as implied by blazar observations. We show that an electrically conducting plasma is present in the voids, and that, because of the plasma, \emph{diffusion} into the voids of galactic fields generated by a mean-field dynamo is far too slow to explain the present-day void magnetization. Indeed, we show that even in the presence of turbulence in the voids, dynamo-generated galactic fields diffuse out to a galactocentric radius of only 200-400 kpc. Therefore, it is challenging to meet the required volume filling-factor of the void magnetic field. We conclude that a primordial origin remains the most natural explanation to the space-filling weak fields in voids.
image of a cosmological simulation showing a large cosmic void (image not contained in the paper commented here)
image of a cosmological simulation showing a large cosmic void (image not contained in the paper commented here)
image of a cosmological simulation showing a large cosmic void (image not contained in the paper commented here)
  • Copy link
  • Flag this post
  • Block
franco_vazza
@franco_vazza@mastodon.social replied  ·  activity timestamp 3 weeks ago

In the paper we discuss at great extent what is the range of plausible diffusion rate of magnetic fields from galaxies to voids, considering the MHD (magneto-hydro-dynamics) description of plasma in voids, given the realistic physical parameters we know of these scales.

Magnetic fields from galaxies can only diffuse at a super-slow rate, and cannot magnetise voids at any significant level (surely not above the 1e-15G level suggested by gamma-ray observations)

Sorry, no caption provided by author
Sorry, no caption provided by author
Sorry, no caption provided by author
Sorry, no caption provided by author
Sorry, no caption provided by author
Sorry, no caption provided by author
  • Copy link
  • Flag this comment
  • Block
franco_vazza
@franco_vazza@mastodon.social replied  ·  activity timestamp 3 weeks ago

By simulating with the Pencil code the somewhat unrealistic condition of a magnetic field produced by dynamo only (i.e. no outflows or jets) in a cosmic void, we showed that MHD imposes a fast power-law decrease of the B-field followed by a sharp exponential cutoff at a few scale radii from the galaxy, i.e. 100kpc or so. No magnetic field can realistically diffuse into voids in this way!

Sorry, no caption provided by author
Sorry, no caption provided by author
Sorry, no caption provided by author
  • Copy link
  • Flag this comment
  • Block
franco_vazza
@franco_vazza@mastodon.social replied  ·  activity timestamp 3 weeks ago

This paper only addresses a scenario recently proposed in the literature, showing it cannot work, while of course other mechanisms to transport magnetic fields from galaxies to filaments and voids are possibly in place, like AGN jets and star formation winds. This is exactly the kind of phenomena which I daily try to simulate in large cosmological simulations (which has so far consistently shown that also jets and winds cannot magnetise voids).

Sorry, no caption provided by author
Sorry, no caption provided by author
Sorry, no caption provided by author
  • Copy link
  • Flag this comment
  • Block
franco_vazza
@franco_vazza@mastodon.social replied  ·  activity timestamp 3 weeks ago

For a longer thread explaining why do we think gamma ray observations detected magnetic fields in voids (and radio observations detected it in filaments) you can check this longer contribution:

https://mastodon.social/@franco_vazza/110995561776303266

  • Copy link
  • Flag this comment
  • Block
Log in

bonfire.cafe

A space for Bonfire maintainers and contributors to communicate

bonfire.cafe: About · Code of conduct · Privacy · Users · Instances
Bonfire social · 1.0.0 no JS en
Automatic federation enabled
  • Explore
  • About
  • Members
  • Code of Conduct
Home
Login