Kavli Affiliate: Susan E. Clark
| First 5 Authors: Brandon Shane, Blakesley Burkhart, Laura Fissel, Susan E. Clark, Philip Mocz
| Summary:
The characterization of magnetic fields within molecular clouds is
fundamental to understanding star formation processes. Accurately gauging the
three-dimensional structure of these fields presents a challenge, as
observational techniques such as dust polarization and the Zeeman effect each
provide only partial information on the orientation and line-of-sight strength,
respectively. By analyzing a suite of AREPO simulations, this paper
investigates how observables can relate to underlying physical properties to
derive a more comprehensive picture of the magnetic field’s inclination angle
and strength, specifically in regions where both dust polarization and Zeeman
data are available. To demonstrate the method, we produce synthetic
observations of the polarization angle dispersion and line-of-sight Alfv’en
Mach Number and explore the behavior of the inclination angle, $gamma$, and
strength of the magnetic field in regions where both Zeeman and dust
polarization data are available. We find that dust polarization data can be
used to determine the inclination angle if the cloud is known to be
trans-Alfv’enic or sub-Alfv’enic. The strength of the magnetic field relative
to turbulence can be estimated by comparing polarization observations to Zeeman
observations. Comparing the dispersion of the polarization angle to the
estimated line-of-sight Alfv’en Mach Number provides clues about the strength
of the magnetic field and, consequently, the orientation of the magnetic field.
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