Dr Seoyoung Lyla Jung

Abstract:

The structure of magnetic fields in galaxies remains poorly constrained, despite the importance of magnetism in the evolution of galaxies. Radio synchrotron and far-infrared (FIR) polarization and polarimetric observations are the best methods to measure galactic scale properties of magnetic fields in galaxies beyond the Milky Way. We use synthetic polarimetric observations of a simulated galaxy to identify and quantify the regions, scales, and interstellar medium (ISM) phases probed at FIR and radio wavelengths. Our studied suite of magnetohydrodynamical cosmological zoom-in simulations features high-resolutions (10 pc full-cell size) and multiple magnetization models. Our synthetic observations have a striking resemblance to those of observed galaxies. We find that the total and polarized radio emission extends to approximately double the altitude above the galactic disk (half-intensity disk thickness of h I radio ∼ h PI radio = 0.23 ± 0.03 kpc) relative to the total FIR and polarized emission that are concentrated in the disk midplane (h I FIR ∼ h PI FIR = 0.11 ± 0.01 kpc). Radio emission traces magnetic fields at scales of ≳300 pc, whereas FIR emission probes magnetic fields at the smallest scales of our simulations. These scales are comparable to our spatial resolution and well below the spatial resolution (<300 pc) of existing FIR polarimetric measurements. Finally, we confirm that synchrotron emission traces a combination of the warm neutral and cold neutral gas phases, whereas FIR emission follows the densest gas in the cold neutral phase in the simulation. These results are independent of the ISM magnetic field strength. The complementarity we measure between radio and FIR wavelengths motivates future multiwavelength polarimetric observations to advance our knowledge of extragalactic magnetism.

Abstract:

Using high-resolution Romulus simulations, we explore the origin and evolution of the circumgalactic medium (CGM) in the region 0.1 ≤ R/R500 ≤ 1 around massive central galaxies in group-scale halos. We find that the CGM is multiphase and highly dynamic. Investigating the dynamics, we identify seven patterns of evolution. We show that these are robust and detected consistently across various conditions. The gas cools via two pathways: (1) filamentary cooling inflows and (2) condensations forming from rapidly cooling density perturbations. In our cosmological simulations, the perturbations are mainly seeded by orbiting substructures. The condensations can form even when the median tcool/tff of the X-ray emitting gas is above 10 or 20. Strong amplitude perturbations can provoke runaway cooling regardless of the state of the background gas. We also find perturbations whose local tcool/tff ratios drop below the threshold but which do not condense. Rather, the ratios fall to some minimum value and then bounce. These are weak perturbations that are temporarily swept up in satellite wakes and carried to larger radii. Their tcool/tff ratios decrease because tff is increasing, not because tcool is decreasing. For structures forming hierarchically, our study highlights the challenge of using a simple threshold argument to infer the CGM's evolution. It also highlights that the median hot gas properties are suboptimal determinants of the CGM's state and dynamics. Realistic CGM models must incorporate the impact of mergers and orbiting satellites, along with the CGM's heating and cooling cycles.

Abstract:

Faraday rotation measure (RM) is arguably the most practical observational tracer of magnetic fields in the diffuse circumgalactic medium (CGM). We sample synthetic Faraday rotation skies of Milky Way-like galaxies in TNG50 of the IllustrisTNG project by placing an observer inside the galaxies at a solar circle-like position. Our synthetic RM grids emulate specifications of current and upcoming surveys; the NRAO VLA Sky Survey (NVSS), the Polarisation Sky Survey of the Universe's Magnetism (POSSUM), and a future Square Kilometre Array (SKA1-mid) polarization survey. It has been suggested that magnetic fields regulate the survival of high-velocity clouds. However, there is only a small number of observational detections of magnetized clouds thus far. In the first part of the paper, we test conditions for the detection of magnetized circumgalactic clouds. Based on the synthetic RM samplings of clouds in the simulations, we predict upcoming polarimetric surveys will open opportunities for the detection of even low-mass and distant clouds. In the second part of the paper, we investigate the imprint of the CGM in the all-sky RM distribution. We test whether the RM variation produced by the CGM is correlated with global galaxy properties, such as distance to a satellite, specific star formation rate, neutral hydrogen covering fraction, and accretion rate to the supermassive black hole. We argue that the observed fluctuation in the RM measurements on scales less than 1, which has been considered an indication of intergalactic magnetic fields, might in fact incorporate a significant contribution of the Milky Way CGM.

Abstract:

Throughout the passage within the Galactic halo, high-velocity clouds (HVCs) sweep up ambient magnetic fields and form stretched and draped configurations of magnetic fields around them. Many earlier numerical studies adopt spherically symmetric uniform-density clouds as initial conditions for simplicity. However, observations demonstrate that HVCs are clumpy and turbulent. In this paper, we perform 3D magnetohydrodynamic simulations to study the evolution of clouds with initial density distributions described by power-law spatial power spectra. We systematically study the role of (i) the initial density structure, (ii) halo magnetic fields, and (iii) radiative cooling efficiency upon infalling HVCs. We find that (i) the clouds' density structure regulates mixing and mass growth. Uniform clouds grow from the onset of the simulations, while clumpy clouds initially lose gas and then grow at later times. Along the same lines, the growth curve of clumpy clouds depends on the slope of the initial density power spectra. (ii) Magnetic fields suppress hydrodynamic instabilities and the growth of small-scale structures. As a result, magnetized clouds develop long filaments extended along the streaming direction, whereas non-magnetized clouds are fragmented into many small clumps. (iii) Efficient cooling keeps the main cloud body more compact and produces decelerated dense clumps condensed from the halo gas. This work potentially helps us understand and predict the observed properties of HVCs such as the detectability of magnetized clouds, the presence of decelerated HI structures associated with HVC complexes and small-scale features, and a possible link between the origin and the fate of HVCs.

Abstract:

Using Multi-Unit Spectroscopic Explorer (MUSE) spectroscopy, we analyse the stellar kinematics of 18 brightest group early-type (BGEs) galaxies, selected from the Complete Local-Volume Groups Sample (CLoGS). We analyse the kinematic maps for distinct features, and measure specific stellar angular momentum within one effective radius (λe). We classify the BGEs as fast (10/18) or slow (8/18) rotators, suggesting at least two different evolution paths. We quantify the anticorrelation between higher order kinematic moment h3 and V/σ (using the ζ3 parameter), and the kinematic misalignment angle between the photometric and kinematic position angles (using the ψ parameter), and note clear differences between these parameter distributions of the fast and slow rotating BGEs. We find that all 10 of our fast rotators are aligned between the morphological and kinematical axis, consistent with an oblate galaxy shape, whereas the slow rotators are spread over all three classes: oblate (1/8), triaxial (4/8), and prolate (3/8). We place the results into context using known radio properties, X-ray properties, and observations of molecular gas. We find consistent merger histories inferred from observations for the fast-rotating BGEs, indicating that they experienced gas-rich mergers or interactions, and these are very likely the origin of the cold gas. Observational evidence for the slow rotators is consistent with gas-poor mergers. For the slow rotators with cold gas, all evidence point to cold gas cooling from the intragroup medium.