Magnetized filament models for diverging plasma lenses

Abstract

ABSTRACT Spherical plasma lens models are known to suffer from a severe overpressure problem, with some observations requiring lenses with central pressures up to millions of times in excess of the ambient interstellar medium. There are two ways that lens models can solve the overpressure problem: a confinement mechanism exists to counter the internal pressure of the lens, or the lens has a unique geometry, such that the projected column-density appears large to an observer. This occurs with highly asymmetric models, such as edge-on sheets or filaments, with potentially low volume–density. In the first part of this work we investigate the ability of non-magnetized plasma filaments to mimic the magnification of sources seen behind spherical lenses and we extend a theorem from gravitational lens studies regarding this model degeneracy. We find that for plasma lenses, the theorem produces unphysical charge density distributions. In the second part of the work, we consider the plasma lens overpressure problem. Using magnetohydrodynamics, we develop a non self-gravitating model filament confined by a helical magnetic field. We use toy models in the force-free limit to illustrate novel lensing properties. Generally, magnetized filaments may act as lenses in any orientation with respect to the observer, with the most high-density events produced from filaments with axes near the line of sight. We focus on filaments that are perpendicular to the line of sight that show the toroidal magnetic field component may be observed via the lens rotation measure.