On the Amplification of Magnetic Field by a Supernova Blast Shock Wave in a Turbulent Medium

TL;DR

This study uses 2D magnetohydrodynamic simulations to explore how supernova blast waves amplify magnetic fields in turbulent interstellar media through vorticity and Rayleigh-Taylor instabilities, revealing a radial profile of magnetic strength.

Contribution

It demonstrates the roles of shock-induced vorticity and Rayleigh-Taylor instability in magnetic field amplification, highlighting the dependence on physical and numerical parameters.

Findings

Magnetic field amplification occurs via vorticity and Rayleigh-Taylor instabilities.

Downstream magnetic field strength increases with distance from the shock.

No strong magnetic field observed near the shock front in simulations.

Abstract

We have performed extensive two-dimensional magnetohydrodynamic simulations to study the amplification of magnetic fields when a supernova blast wave propagates into a turbulent interstellar plasma. The blast wave is driven by injecting high pressure in the simulation domain. The interstellar magnetic field can be amplified by two different processes, occurring in different regions. One is facilitated by the fluid vorticity generated by the ``rippled" shock front interacting with the background turbulence. The resulting turbulent flow keeps amplifying the magnetic field, consistent with earlier work \citep{Giacalone2007}. The other process is facilitated by the growth of the Rayleigh-Taylor instability at the contact discontinuity between the ejecta and the shocked medium. This can efficiently amplify the magnetic field and tends to produce the highest magnetic field. We investigate the dependence of the amplification on numerical parameters such as grid-cell size and on various physical parameters. We show the magnetic field has a characteristic radial profile that the downstream magnetic field gets progressively stronger away from the shock. This is because the downstream magnetic field needs a finite time to reach the efficient amplification, and will get further amplified in the Rayleigh-Taylor region. In our simulation we do not observe a systematic strong magnetic field within a small distance to the shock. This indicates that if the magnetic-field amplification in supernova remnants indeed occurs near the shock front, other processes such as three-dimensional instabilities, plasma kinetics and/or cosmic ray effect may need to be considered to explain the strong magnetic field in supernova remnants.