Project Part A8: RM Synthesis and magnetic field statistics

Persons involved

Summary

The complex polarized intensity pattern in angular and frequency space of a synchrotron emitting and Faraday-rotating medium contains valuable information on the magnetic field structure of the medium. This information is imprinted by two processes: i) the synchrotron emission, whose emissivity depends on the magnetic field strength and orientation and ii) the Faraday rotation, which is determined by the line-of-sight component of the magnetic field.

We are applying for a postdoc to develop the required methods in order to extract from polari- metric observations of synchrotron radiation scientific information on magnetic fields, based on an information theoretical footing. The methods to extract statistical information on magnetic fields from the radio-polarimetric data have to be aware of the Faraday rotation data processing steps, in order to insulate any systematic effect of the method from the scientific results. Thus, they have to be developed in conjunction with the Faraday rotation tomography methods, which we therefore plan to advance by implementing algorithms for 3-D RM Synthesis like RM Wiener filtering and RM CLEAN. The hereby created methods are intended as central working tools of the Research Unit.