Turbulence and magnetic field amplification in supernova remnants: interactions between a strong shock wave and multiphase interstellar medium

T Inoue, R Yamazaki, S Inutsuka - The Astrophysical Journal, 2009 - iopscience.iop.org
T Inoue, R Yamazaki, S Inutsuka
The Astrophysical Journal, 2009iopscience.iop.org
We examine magnetohydrodynamic simulations of the propagation of a strong shock wave
through the interstellar two-phase medium composed of small-scale cloudlets and diffuse
warm neutral medium in two-dimensional geometry. The preshock two-phase medium is
provided as a natural consequence of the thermal instability that is expected to be
ubiquitous in the interstellar medium. We show that the shock-compressed shell becomes
turbulent owing to the preshock density inhomogeneity, and magnetic field amplification …
Abstract
We examine magnetohydrodynamic simulations of the propagation of a strong shock wave through the interstellar two-phase medium composed of small-scale cloudlets and diffuse warm neutral medium in two-dimensional geometry. The preshock two-phase medium is provided as a natural consequence of the thermal instability that is expected to be ubiquitous in the interstellar medium. We show that the shock-compressed shell becomes turbulent owing to the preshock density inhomogeneity, and magnetic field amplification takes place in the shell. The maximum field strength is determined by the condition that plasma β∼ 1, which gives the field strength on the order of 1 mG in the case of shock velocity∼ 10 3 km s− 1. The strongly magnetized region shows filamentary and knotlike structures in two-dimensional simulations. The spatial scale of the regions with a magnetic field of∼ 1 mG in our simulation is roughly 0.05 pc, which is comparable to the spatial scale of the X-ray hot spots recently discovered in supernova remnants where the magnetic field strength is indicated to be amplified up to the order of 1 mG. This result may also suggest that the turbulent region with a locally strong magnetic field is expected to be spread out in the region with frequent supernova explosions, such as in the Galactic center and starburst galaxies.
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