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Galactic effects of the cosmic-ray gas

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Abstract

On an astronomical scale cosmic rays must be considered a tenuous and extremely hot (relativistic) gas. The pressure of the cosmic-ray gas is comparable to the other gas and field pressures in interstellar space, so that the cosmic-ray pressure must be taken into account in treating the dynamical properties of the gaseous disk of the galaxy. This review begins with a survey of present knowledge of the cosmic-ray gas. Then the kinetic properties of the gas are developed, followed by an exposition of the dynamical effects of the cosmic-ray gas on a large-scale magnetic field embedded in a thermal gas. The propagation of low-frequency hydromagnetic waves is worked out in the fluid approximation.

The dynamical properties of the gaseous disk of the galaxy are next considered. The equations for the equilibrium distribution in the direction perpendicular to the disk are worked out. It is shown that a self-consistent equilibrium can be constructed within the range of the observational estimates of the gas density, scale height, turbulent velocity, field strength, cosmic-ray pressure, and galactic gravitational acceleration. Perturbation calculations then show that the equilibrium is unstable, on scales of a few hundred pc and in times of the order 2 × 107 years. The instability is driven about equally by the magnetic field and the cosmic-ray gas and dominates self-gravitation. Hence the instability dominates the dynamics of the interstellar gas and is the major effect in forming interstellar gas clouds. Star formation is the end result of condensation of the interstellar gas into clouds, indicating, then, that cosmic rays play a major role in initiating star formation in the galaxy.

The cosmic rays are trapped in the unstable gaseous disk and escape from the disk only in so far as their pressure is able to inflate the magnetic field of the disk. The observed scale height of the galactic disk, the short life (106 years) of cosmic-ray particles in the disk of the galaxy, and their observed quiescent state in the disk, indicate that the galactic magnetic field acts as a safety valve on the cosmic ray pressure P so that P≅B 2/8π. We infer from the observed life and quiescence of the cosmic rays that the mean field strength in the disk of the galaxy is 3–5 × 10−6 gauss.

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  1. Laboratory for Astrophysics and Space Research, University of Chicago, Chicago, Ill, USA

    E. N. Parker

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Parker, E.N. Galactic effects of the cosmic-ray gas. Space Sci Rev 9, 651–712 (1969). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00174032

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