GGrantIndex
← Search

GALACTIC WINDS ARE OF FUNDAMENTAL IMPORTANCE TO GALAXY FORMATION BUT THE PHYSICS REMAINS UNKNOWN. COSMIC RAYS (CRS) HAVE BEEN PROPOSED AS THE DOMINANT FORCE IN WIND ACCELERATION AND RECENT NUMERICAL SIMULATIONS HAVE EMPLOYED INCREASINGLY REALISTIC PHYSICS TO MODEL THEIR IMPACT ON THE INTERSTELLAR MEDIUM (ISM). CRS DRIVE WINDS BY ELASTIC SCATTERING IN THE ISM SETTING UP A PRESSURE GRADIENT THAT ACCELERATES GAS. YET THESE SCATTERING INTERACTIONS LEAD TO DIRECT COUPLING OF CRS WITH GAS THROUGH INELASTIC PROTON-PROTON COLLISIONS WHICH PRODUCE PIONS AND THEN GAMMA-RAYS NEUTRINOS AND SECONDARY ELECTRON/POSITRON PAIRS. THUS THE PHYSICS OF CR WIND DRIVING AND THE COUPLING OF CRS TO MATTER IS INEXORABLY TIED BOTH TO THE RADIO SYNCHROTRON AND GAMMA-RAY EMISSION OF GALAXIES. THERE HAVE BEEN FEW COMPARISONS BETWEEN MODELS OF CR DRIVEN WINDS AND THE VARIETY OF MULTI-WAVELENGTH DATA AVAILABLE FOR THE NEAREST STARBURST AND NORMAL STAR-FORMING GALAXIES. THE INVESTIGATORS PROPOSE TO USE RESOLVED RADIO OBSERVATIONS AND INTEGRATED GAMMA-RAY EMISSION OF LOCAL STARBURSTS TO RULE OUT OR PROVIDE EVIDENCE FOR CR DRIVEN WINDS. TO ACCOMPLISH THIS THEY WILL USE THE GALPROP CR PROPAGATION CODE TO SELF-CONSISTENTLY AND SIMULTANEOUSLY CALCULATE THE CR PRESSURE AND THE INTENSITY AND MORPHOLOGY OF THE MULTI-WAVELENGTH EMISSION FROM CR INTERACTIONS IN THE TWO FAMOUS LOCAL STARBURST ``WIND GALAXIES" M82 AND NGC 253. THESE MODELS WILL BE TWO-DIMENSIONAL AXISYMMETRIC AND WILL THE FIRST MULTI-DIMENSIONAL MODELS OF CR INJECTION PROPAGATION AND GAMMARAY GENERATION PRODUCED FOR EACH GALAXY. THE INVESTIGATORS WILL FIRST TUNE THE RELEVANT PARAMETERS (E.G. GAS DENSITY RADIATION AND MAGNETIC FIELDS) TO MATCH THE INTEGRATED CONSTRAINTS FROM BOTH GAMMA-RAY AND RADIO OBSERVATIONS OF THE STARBURST CORES IN ORDER TO MAKE A COMPARISON WITH PREVIOUS ONE-ZONE MODELS. THEY WILL THEN ADJUST THE GALPROP DIFFUSION AND ADVECTION PARAMETERS TO MATCH THE RADIO INTENSITY AND SPECTRAL INDEX ALONG THE MINOR AXIS OF THE GALACTIC WIND. FITTING THE INTEGRATED GAMMA-RAY EMISSION AS WELL AS THE SPATIALLY RESOLVED RADIO INTENSITY SPECTRAL INDEX AND MORPHOLOGY WILL CONSTRAIN THE VERTICAL CR PRESSURE GRADIENT AND THEREFORE THE CR CONTRIBUTION TO THE GAS ACCELERATION. IN ADDITION THE INVESTIGATORS PROPOSE TO CARRY OUT SIMILAR MODELING FOR NORMAL STAR-FORMING SPIRAL GALAXIES WITH EXTENDED RADIO HALOS. BECAUSE OF THE RELATIVELY WEAKER PIONIC LOSSES FOR COSMIC RAY PROTONS IN NORMAL LOW-DENSITY SPIRALS COSMIC RAYS MAY MORE EASILY DOMINATE WIND DRIVING THAN IN DENSE STARBURSTS WHERE PIONIC LOSSES ARE STRONG. THE INVESTIGATORS PROPOSE TO USE GALPROP MODELING OF EDGE-ON SPIRALS WITH EXTENDED RADIO EMISSION TO CONSTRAIN THE MAGNETIC AND COSMIC RAY PRESSURES IN THEIR EXTENDED HALOS. THE GOAL IS TO PROVIDE QUANTITATIVE CONSTRAINTS ON THE AMOUNT OF GAS SUCH SYSTEMS COULD IN PRINCIPLE EXPEL FROM THEIR DISK GRAVITATIONAL POTENTIAL. THE INVESTIGATOR'S RESULTS WILL PROVIDE DIRECT CONSTRAINTS ON CURRENT LEADING MODELS OF GALAXY FORMATION AND EVOLUTION PROVIDING A PHENOMENOLOGICAL BENCHMARK FOR FULL-PHYSICS GALAXY SIMULATORS.

$188,008FY2020National Aeronautics and Space AdministrationNASA

Ohio State University, The, Columbus OH

Investigators

View source on USAspending →