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Initial Galactic Magnetic Fields and the Biermann Battery Mechanism

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Abstract—

There are regular magnetic fields with inductions of several microgauss observed in numerous galaxies. The generation of these fields is explained by the dynamo associated with motions of the interstellar medium in appropriate objects. The growth of magnetic fields is exponential and these become stabilized when the equipartition of energy between magnetic fields and turbulent motions is reached. For starting this generation mechanism, some initial “seed” magnetic fields are necessary, and these fields are not explained within the dynamo theory. Among approaches explaining the magnetic fields in galaxies, there is the so-called Biermann battery mechanism. This mechanism relates to fluxes of protons and electrons flowing from the central portion of the object, with these fluxes being dragged by rotational motions of the medium. This results in circular currents, which are different for various particles due to their different masses. The total current becomes nonzero and generates the magnetic field. Some simple estimates of the strength of such a field were found earlier. In the present work, we have constructed a self-consistent model and derived an integral equation, which permits both to determine the order of magnitude of the initial magnetic field and to study in detail its spatial structure.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The authors are grateful to the anonymous referee for attention paid to our work and for helpful remarks, which have resulted in a number of improvements.

Funding

The work is partially supported by Russian Ministry of Science and Higher Education, (agreement No. 075-15-2019-1621).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Physics, Moscow State University, 119899, Moscow, Russia

    E. A. Mikhailov

  2. Byurakan Astrophysical Observatory, Academy of Sciences of Armenia, 378433, Byurakan, Republic of Armenia

    R. R. Andreasyan

  3. Lebedev Physical Institute, 119991, Moscow, Russia

    E. A. Mikhailov

  4. Moscow Center of Fundamental and Applied Mathematics, 119991, Moscow, Russia

    E. A. Mikhailov

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  1. E. A. Mikhailov
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Correspondence to E. A. Mikhailov.

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Translated by V. Badin

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Mikhailov, E.A., Andreasyan, R.R. Initial Galactic Magnetic Fields and the Biermann Battery Mechanism. Astron. Rep. 65, 715–722 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1134/S1063772921090055

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