A closer look at supernovae as seeds for galactic magnetization

TL;DR

This paper evaluates the potential of supernovae to seed galactic magnetic fields, finding they contribute far less magnetic energy than previously assumed, thus other mechanisms must be considered.

Contribution

It provides a detailed calculation of magnetic energy injection by supernovae based on stellar magnetism models, challenging prior assumptions used in cosmological simulations.

Findings

Supernovae inject between 10^{-10} and 10^{-7} of their energy as magnetic energy.

Maximum magnetic field from supernovae is about 10^{-7} G in ideal conditions.

Supernovae alone are insufficient to magnetize galaxies, requiring alternative seeding mechanisms.

Abstract

Explaining the currently observed magnetic fields in galaxies requires relatively strong seeding in the early Universe. One theory proposes that magnetic fields of the order of $\mu$G were expelled by supernova (SN) explosions after primordial, nG or weaker fields were amplified in stellar interiors. In this work, we calculate the maximum magnetic energy that can be injected in the interstellar medium by a stellar cluster of mass $M_{cl}$ based on what is currently known about stellar magnetism. We consider early-type stars and adopt either a Salpeter or a top-heavy IMF. For their magnetic fields, we adopt either a Gaussian or a bimodal distribution. The Gaussian model assumes that all massive stars are magnetized with $10^3 < \langle B_* \rangle < 10^4$ G, while the bimodal, consistent with observations of Milky Way stars, assumes only 5-10 per cent of OB stars have $10^3 < \langle B_* \rangle < 10^4$ G, while the rest have $10 < \langle B_* \rangle < 10^2$ G. We find that the maximum magnetic energy that can be injected by a stellar population is between $10^{-10}-10^{-7}$ times the total SN energy. The highest end of these estimates is about five orders of magnitude lower than what is usually employed in cosmological simulations, where about $10^{-2}$ of the SN energy is injected as magnetic. Pure advection of the stellar magnetic field by SN explosions is a good candidate for seeding a dynamo, but not enough to magnetize galaxies. Assuming SNe as main mechanism for galactic magnetization, the magnetic field cannot exceed an intensity of $10^{-7}$ G in the best-case scenario for a population of $10^{5}$ solar masses in a superbubble of 300 pc radius, while more typical values are between $10^{-10}-10^{-9}$~G. Therefore, other scenarios for galactic magnetization at high redshift need to be explored.