The generation of strong magnetic fields during the formation of the first stars

Sharanya Sur, D R G Schleicher, Robi Banerjee, Christoph Federrath, Ralf S Klessen

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleResearchpeer-review

161 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Cosmological hydrodynamical simulations of primordial star formation suggest that the gas within the first star-forming halos is turbulent. This has strong implications on the subsequent evolution, in particular on the generation of magnetic fields. Using high-resolution numerical simulations, we show that in the presence of turbulence, weak seed magnetic fields are exponentially amplified by the small-scale dynamo during the formation of the first stars. We conclude that strong magnetic fields are generated during the birth of the first stars in the universe, potentially modifying the mass distribution of these stars and influencing the subsequent cosmic evolution. We find that the presence of the small-scale turbulent dynamo can only be identified in numerical simulations in which the turbulent motions in the central core are resolved with at least 32 grid cells.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)134-138
Number of pages5
JournalThe Astrophysical Journal Letters
Volume721
Issue number2
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2010
Externally publishedYes

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