Julien Devriendt

Abstract:

Under ideal MHD conditions the magnetic field strength should be correlated with density in the interstellar medium ( ISM). However, observations indicate that this correlation is weaker than expected. Ambipolar diffusion can decrease the flux-to-mass ratio in weakly ionized media; however, it is generally thought to be too slow to play a significant role in the ISM except in the densest molecular clouds. Turbulence is often invoked in other astrophysical problems to increase transport rates above the ( very slow) diffusive values. Building on analytical studies, we test with numerical models whether turbulence can enhance the ambipolar diffusion rate sufficiently to explain the observed weak correlations. The numerical method is based on a gas-kinetic scheme with very low numerical diffusivity, thus allowing us to separate numerical and physical diffusion effects.

Abstract:

The Multi Unit Spectroscopic Explorer (MUSE) is a second generation VLT panoramic integral-field spectrograph operating in the visible wavelength range. MUSE has a field of 1x1 arcmin(2) sampled at 0.20.2 arcsec(2) and is assisted by a ground layer adaptive optics system using four laser guide stars. The simultaneous spectral range is 0.465-0.93 mum, at a resolution of Rsimilar to3000. MUSE couples the discovery potential of a large imaging device to the measuring capabilities of a high-quality spectrograph, while taking advantage of the increased spatial resolution provided by adaptive optics. This makes MUSE a unique and tremendously powerful instrument for discovering and characterizing objects that lie beyond the reach of even the deepest imaging surveys. MUSE has also a high spatial resolution mode with 7.5x7.5 arcsec(2) field of view sampled at 25 milli-arcsec. In this mode MUSE should be able to get diffraction limited data-cube in the 0.6-1 mum wavelength range. Although MUSE design has been optimized for the study of galaxy formation and evolution, it has a wide range of possible applications; e.g. monitoring of outer planets atmosphere, young stellar objects environment, supermassive black holes and active nuclei in nearby galaxies or massive spectroscopic survey of stellar fields.