Related papers: Cosmic rays and grain alignment
This paper deals with the cosmic-ray penetration into molecular clouds and with the related gamma--ray emission. High energy cosmic rays interact with the dense gas and produce neutral pions which in turn decay into two gamma rays. This…
Radiative torques, due to the absorption and scattering of starlight, are thought to play a major role in the alignment of grains with the interstellar magnetic field. The absorption of radiation also gives rise to recoil torques,…
(abridged) The polarized thermal radiation at far infrared and submillimeter wavelengths from dust grains in interstellar clouds with irregular magnetic fields is simulated. We show that the polarization properties of quiescent clouds and…
It has been claimed by others that observed temporal correlations of terrestrial cloud cover with `the cosmic ray intensity' are causal. The possibility arises, therefore, of a connection between cosmic rays and Global Warming. If true, the…
Magnetic fields play essential roles in protoplanetary disks. Magnetic fields in the disk atmosphere are of particular interest, as they are connected to the wind-launching mechanism. In this work, we study the polarization of the light…
Cosmic ray acceleration by shocks related with Slipping Interaction Regions (SIRs) in the Galactic Wind is considered. SIRs are similar to Solar Wind Corotating Interaction Regions. The spiral structure of our Galaxy results in a strong…
Non-thermal desorption of ices on interstellar grains is required to explain observations of molecules that are not synthesized efficiently in the gas phase in cold dense clouds. Perhaps the most important non-thermal desorption mechanism…
Galactic cosmic rays are a ubiquitous source of ionisation of the interstellar gas, competing with UV and X-ray photons as well as natural radioactivity in determining the fractional abundance of electrons, ions and charged dust grains in…
The optical and near-infrared (OIR) polarization of starlight is typically understood to arise from the dichroic extinction of that light by dust grains whose axes are aligned with respect to a local magnetic-field. The size distribution of…
Cosmic-ray (CR) induced heating of whole interstellar grains is an important desorption mechanism for grain surface molecules in interstellar molecular clouds. This study aims to provide a detailed temperature spectra for such CR-induced…
A previous study (Paper I) investigated the polarization properties of a variety of simple convex grain shapes, some of which were found to be consistent with the observed polarization properties of interstellar dust from far-ultraviolet to…
Polarization of starlight and thermal dust emission due to aligned non-spherical grains helps us to trace magnetic field (B-field) morphology in molecular clouds and to study grain alignment mechanisms. In this work, we study grain…
In the Milky Way, cosmic rays (CRs) are dynamically important in the interstellar medium, contribute to hydrostatic balance, and may help regulate star formation. However, we know far less about the importance of CRs in galaxies whose gas…
The polarization of starlight and thermal dust emission from aligned non-spherical grains provides a powerful tool for tracing magnetic field morphologies and strengths in diffuse interstellar medium to star-forming regions, and…
The Galactic cosmic ray (GCR) intensity has been postulated by others to vary cyclically with a peak to valley ratio of ~3:1, as the Solar System moves from the Spiral Arm to the Inter-Arm regions of the Galaxy. These intensities have been…
We study the change in cosmic-ray pressure, the change in cosmic-ray density, and the level of cosmic-ray induced heating via Alfven-wave damping when cosmic rays move from a hot ionized plasma to a cool cloud embedded in that plasma. The…
We investigate the combined effect of solar wind, Poynting-Robertson drag, and the frozen-in interplanetary magnetic field on the motion of charged dust grains in our solar system. For this reason we derive a secular theory of motion by the…
The size of dust grains, $a$, is key to the physical and chemical processes in circumstellar disks, but observational constraints of grain size remain challenging. (Sub)millimeter continuum observations often show a percent-level…
Diffuse interstellar clouds show large abundances of H_3^+ which can be maintained only by a high ionization rate of H_2. Cosmic rays are the dominant ionization mechanism in this environment, so the large ionization rate implies a high…
Paramagnetic alignment of suprathermally rotating grains is discussed in view of recent progress in understanding subtle processes taking place over grain surface. It is shown that in typical ISM conditions, grains with surfaces of…