Galactic disk winds driven by cosmic ray pressure

TL;DR

This paper presents a semi-analytic model demonstrating how cosmic ray pressure gradients can drive galactic winds, especially in Milky Way-like galaxies, with implications for mass loss and galaxy evolution.

Contribution

It introduces a simplified semi-analytic model for cosmic-ray driven galactic winds, including new analytic scaling relations and insights into wind properties across different galaxy potentials.

Findings

Wind velocities exceed halo escape speeds.

Mass loss rates can surpass star formation rates for certain galaxy velocities.

Critical points of winds are located 1-6 kpc above the disk.

Abstract

Cosmic ray pressure gradients transfer energy and momentum to extraplanar gas in disk galaxies, potentially driving significant mass loss as galactic winds. This may be particularly important for launching high-velocity outflows of "cool" (T < 10^4 K) gas. We study cosmic-ray driven disk winds using a simplified semi-analytic model assuming streamlines follow the large-scale gravitational potential gradient. We consider scaled Milky Way-like potentials including a disk, bulge, and halo with a range of halo velocities V_H = 50-300 km/s, and streamline footpoints with radii in the disk R_0=1-16 kpc at height 1 kpc. Our solutions cover a wide range of footpoint gas velocity u_0, magnetic-to-cosmic-ray pressure ratio, gas-to-cosmic-ray pressure ratio, and angular momentum. Cosmic ray streaming at the Alfv\'en speed enables the effective sound speed C_eff to increase from the footpoint to a critical point where C_eff,c = u_c ~ V_H; this differs from thermal winds in which C_eff decreases outward. The critical point is typically at a height of 1-6 kpc from the disk, increasing with V_H, and the asymptotic wind velocity exceeds the escape speed of the halo. Mass loss rates are insensitive to the footpoint values of the magnetic field and angular momentum. In addition to numerical parameter space exploration, we develop and compare to analytic scaling relations. We show that winds have mass loss rates per unit area up to ~ Pi_0 V_H^-5/3 u_0^2/3 where Pi_0 is the footpoint cosmic ray pressure and u_0 is set by the upwelling of galactic fountains. The predicted wind mass-loss rate exceeds the star formation rate for V_H < 200 km/s and u_0 = 50 km/s, a typical fountain velocity.