Magnetic Fields and the Structure of the Filamentary Interstellar Medium

Schedule & Speakers
SOC
Workshop Registrants
Logistics & Code of Conduct
Abstracts
Pre-Recorded Talks

How do magnetic fields affect the evolution of the interstellar medium (ISM), and in particular star formation? Recent observations on many scales, both in photometry and polarization, indicate that the dense ISM is filamentary in nature, from sub-structures in giant molecular clouds to the mysterious snake-like infrared dark clouds stretching for tens to hundreds of parsecs along the Galactic plane. To what extent is this filamentary structure driven by magnetic forces and where in the transition from kilo-parsecs scales to molecular cloud scales does it arise? With the availability of the HAWC+ instrument on SOFIA and the SCUBA-2/POL-2 instrument on the JCMT/EAO we are now able to resolve some of the large-scale structures seen in e.g. the Planck maps of the Galaxy, and connect them to the high-resolution, narrow field view of ALMA, and address these questions.

This online workshop will provide a forum to exchange insights and views on recent polarimetric observations, numerical simulations and advances in theoretical understanding, in an attempt to identify observable markers of the impact of magnetic fields. We are also dedicating a day to the question of turning polarimetric observations into magnetic field measurements, including the use and limitations of the Davis-Chandrasekhar-Fermi method, the role of dust grain alignment in different environments, and the combination of line-of-sight and plane-of-the-sky tracers of the magnetic field. 

Registration is now closed.