Magnetic Field Generation by Galactic Winds

Abstract

A new mechanism is presented for the local amplification and possible global dynamo maintenance of non-axisymmetric large-scale magnetic fields in disk galaxies. Shear in a galactic wind or large-scale flow of ionised gas with components axial and radial to the disk plane may regenerate large-scale magnetic fields.Numerical results are presented from kinematic mathematical models based on a local (thin disk) approximation and an exact three-dimensional formulation. The one-dimensional thin-disk model illustrates the possibility of exponential amplification and the resulting local axial spatial structure of large-scale galactic magnetic fields. Three-dimensional results support the possibility of global wind dynamo action.