Strong magnetic fields in normal galaxies at high redshift

Martin L. Bernet, Francesco Miniati (), Simon J. Lilly, Philipp P. Kronberg and Miroslava Dessauges–Zavadsky
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Martin L. Bernet: ETH Zürich, Wolfgang-Pauli-Strasse 16, CH-8093 Zürich, Switzerland
Francesco Miniati: ETH Zürich, Wolfgang-Pauli-Strasse 16, CH-8093 Zürich, Switzerland
Simon J. Lilly: ETH Zürich, Wolfgang-Pauli-Strasse 16, CH-8093 Zürich, Switzerland
Philipp P. Kronberg: Los Alamos National Laboratory, IGPP, PO Box 1663, Los Alamos, New Mexico 87545, USA
Miroslava Dessauges–Zavadsky: Observatoire de Genève, Université de Genève, 51 Chemin des Maillettes, CH-1290 Sauverny, Switzerland

Nature, 2008, vol. 454, issue 7202, 302-304

Abstract: Strong magnetic fields Little is known about the origin of the magnetic fields in today's galaxies because of the difficulty of detecting magnetism in the distant Universe. An indirect observation technique can help. A study of a sample of quasars with strong Mg ii absorption lines shows that they are associated with larger Faraday rotation measures, indicative of high-strength magnetic fields. Mg ii absorption is a characteristic of the haloes of normal galaxies, seen in projection in front of background polarized quasars. These observations suggest that completely normal galaxies contained magnetic fields, with strengths comparable to those seen today, when the Universe was only about a third of its present age.

Date: 2008
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DOI: 10.1038/nature07105

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