# On the origin of magnetic driven winds and the structure of the galactic   dynamo in isolated galaxies

**Authors:** Ulrich P. Steinwandel, Klaus Dolag, Harald Lesch, Benjamin P. Moster,, Andreas Burkert, Almudena Prieto

arXiv: 1907.11727 · 2020-04-01

## TL;DR

This study models the galactic dynamo in isolated galaxies, revealing magnetic field structures, their evolution, and their relation to star formation, driven by magnetic outflows and instabilities.

## Contribution

It provides a detailed simulation of the galactic dynamo process, demonstrating the formation of magnetic field structures and their connection to outflows and star formation.

## Key findings

- Galactic dynamo aligns with theoretical and observational predictions.
- Magnetic field shows dipole to quadrupole transition over time.
- Magnetic field strength correlates with star formation rate surface density.

## Abstract

We investigate the build-up of the galactic dynamo and subsequently the origin of a magnetic driven outflow. We use a setup of an isolated disc galaxy with a realistic circum-galactic medium (CGM). We find good agreement of the galactic dynamo with theoretical and observational predictions from the radial and toroidal components of the magnetic field as function of radius and disc scale height. We find several field reversals indicating dipole structure at early times and quadrupole structure at late times. Together with the magnetic pitch angle and the dynamo control parameters $R_{\alpha}$, $R_{\omega}$ and $D$ we present strong evidence for an $\alpha^2$-$\Omega$ dynamo. The formation of a bar in the centre leads to further amplification of the magnetic field via adiabatic compression which subsequently drives an outflow. Due to the Parker-Instability the magnetic field lines rise to the edge of the disc, break out and expand freely in the CGM driven by the magnetic pressure. Finally, we investigate the correlation between magnetic field and star formation rate. Globally, we find that the magnetic field is increasing as function of the star formation rate surface density with a slope between $0.3$ and $0.45$ in good agreement with predictions from theory and observations. Locally, we find that the magnetic field can decrease while star formation increases. We find that this effect is correlated with the diffusion of magnetic field from the spiral arms to the inter-arm regions which we explicitly include by solving the induction equation and accounting for non-linear terms.

## Full text

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## Figures

33 figures with captions in the complete paper: https://tomesphere.com/paper/1907.11727/full.md

## References

94 references — full list in the complete paper: https://tomesphere.com/paper/1907.11727/full.md

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Source: https://tomesphere.com/paper/1907.11727