CAREER: Magnetogenesis and Plasma Dynamo Across Cosmic Time

磁场现在在我们的银河系和星系团中进行常规测量。研究人员试图了解这些磁场的起源，重点是磁场在很长一段时间内的复杂变化。他们解决了这些问题：为什么附近的宇宙在观测水平上被磁化？这些油田是什么时候生产的？更具体地说，是什么物质属性赋予了星系形成物质生长和维持强磁场的能力？研究人员计划将传统的纸笔计算与最先进的超级计算机模拟相结合，以更好地了解这些磁场是如何形成的。将对原星系和星系间空间的磁场强度和结构进行预测，为下一代射电望远镜做准备。研究人员计划为妇女和代表性不足的群体提供培训和鼓励，以选择天体物理流体动力学或等离子体天体物理学的职业。这些目标是为了应对等离子体科学中女性和少数民族的惊人缺乏以及美国物理学和天文学课程中相对缺乏流体和等离子体教育。将启动一个针对这些群体成员的两年期暑期学校方案。这些学校的所有材料都将公开提供，一项研究将跟踪这些学校对外地征聘和保留的影响。研究人员将描述，从第一原理，宇宙磁性和发电机的创建和发展，随着时间的推移，特别侧重于放大原星系和星系团中预先存在的种子磁场的不稳定性，湍流和大规模剪切。研究人员将确定等离子体的材料特性如何影响其增长和维持动态重要磁场的能力。他们将模拟性质随时间的变化，从再电离时代到星系的早期生命。这些系统的低密度和高温使这些问题变得复杂，这排除了磁流体动力学描述，并将微物理等离子体过程带到了前面。他们的开创性工作的发电机在这个制度的杠杆，主张在早期发展的原星系和星系团内介质的爆炸性领域的增长阶段。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Magnetic fields are now routinely measured both in our Galaxy and in clusters of galaxies. The investigator seeks to understand the origin of these fields, focusing on the complex changes of the magnetic fields over long periods of time. They address these questions: Why is the nearby Universe magnetized at the observed levels? When were these fields produced? More specifically, what material properties give the galaxy-forming material the ability to grow and sustain strong magnetic fields? The investigator plans traditional, paper and pencil, calculations combined with state-of-the-art supercomputer simulations to better understand how these magnetic fields came to be. Predictions for the strength and structure of magnetic fields in protogalaxies and intergalactic space will be made in preparation for next-generation radio telescopes. The investigator plans to provide women and underrepresented groups the training and encouragement to choose a career in astrophysical fluid dynamics or plasma astrophysics. These goals are in response to the alarming dearth of women and minorities in plasma science and the relative lack of fluid and plasma education in U.S. physics and astronomy curricula. A program of biennial summer schools, targeting members of these groups, will be initiated. All materials from the schools will be made publicly available, and a study will track the impact of these schools on recruitment and retention in the field. The investigator will describe, from first principles, the creation and development of cosmic magnetism and dynamo across time, focusing specifically on the amplification of pre-existing seed magnetic fields in protogalaxies and in clusters of galaxies by instabilities, turbulence, and large-scale shear. The investigator will determine how the material properties of a plasma influence its ability to grow and sustain dynamically important magnetic fields. They will model the properties change with time, from the epoch of re-ionization to the early lives of galaxies. Answering these questions is complicated by the low densities and high temperatures in these systems, which precludes a magneto-hydrodynamic description and brings microphysical plasma processes to the fore. Their pioneering work on the dynamo in this regime is leveraged to argue for a phase of explosive field growth in the early development of protogalaxies and the intra-galactic cluster medium. They formulate a research plan to investigate this possibility by combining traditional analytical techniques with state-of-the-art numerical tools.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.