Tracing magnetic field in super-Alfvenic turbulence with Gradient Technique

TL;DR

This paper evaluates the effectiveness of Synchrotron Intensity Gradients and X-ray intensity gradients in accurately mapping magnetic fields in super-Alfvenic turbulence, relevant to astrophysical phenomena like galaxy clusters.

Contribution

It demonstrates the high accuracy of gradient techniques in tracing magnetic fields in super-Alfvenic turbulence using synthetic observations.

Findings

Both SIGs and X-ray gradients show good accuracy in magnetic field mapping.

Gradient techniques can be applied to super-Alfvenic sub-sonic turbulence.

Results suggest broader applicability of Gradient Techniques in astrophysics.

Abstract

Super-Alfvenic turbulence is important for many astrophysical objects, particularly galaxy clusters. In this paper, we explore the accuracy of Synchrotron Intensity Gradients (SIGs) and X-ray intensity gradients to map magnetic fields in super-Alfvenic turbulence for a set of astrophysically relevant parameters of turbulent driving. Analyzing our synthetic observations, we report a good accuracy for both techniques. Our results are suggestive that other types of Gradient Technique (GT) can be successfully employed to trace magnetic fields within super-Alfvenic sub-sonic turbulence.