English

Cosmic-Ray Feedback from Supernovae in a Parker-Unstable Medium

Astrophysics of Galaxies 2025-07-15 v2 High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena

Abstract

Supernova energy drives interstellar medium (ISM) turbulence and can help launch galactic winds. What difference does it make if 10%10\% of the energy is initially deposited into cosmic rays? To answer this question and study cosmic-ray feedback, we perform galactic patch simulations of a stratified ISM. We compare two magnetohydrodynamic and cosmic ray (MHD+CR) simulations, which are identical except for how each supernova's energy is injected. In one, 10%10\% of the energy is injected as cosmic-ray energy. In the other case, energy injection is strictly thermal and kinetic. We find that cosmic-ray injections drive a faster, hotter, and more massive outflow long after the injections occur. Both simulations show the formation of cold clouds (with a total mass fraction >50%>50\%) through the Parker instability and thermal instability. The Parker instability simultaneously produces high mass loading factors η>103\eta > 10^3 as it requires few supernovae. We also show how the Parker instability naturally leads to a decorrelation of cosmic-ray pressure and gas density. This decorrelation leads to a significant decrease in the calorimetric fraction for injected cosmic rays, but it depends on having a highly resolved magnetic field.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2412.12249,
  title  = {Cosmic-Ray Feedback from Supernovae in a Parker-Unstable Medium},
  author = {Roark Habegger and Ellen G. Zweibel},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2412.12249},
  year   = {2025}
}

Comments

27 pages, 19 figures, revision after peer review submitted to ApJ. Comments welcome!