Wind of Change: Faraday Rotation in a Simulated Large Magellanic Cloud

Abstract

Magnetic fields significantly influence the structure of galaxies' interstellar media, but our understanding of magnetic field strengths and structures in external galaxies is severely limited. The Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) offers a unique opportunity for improvement due to its proximity and large angular size, allowing for various detailed observations, particularly rich datasets of rotation measures and dispersion measures (RM and DM). However, interpreting these measurements is challenging due to the need for assumptions about the 3D structure for which we can only access LOS integrated quantities. To address this, we conduct a suite of high-resolution magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulations of the LMC, incorporating star formation, star-by-star feedback, and ram pressure stripping by the Milky Way's circumgalactic medium (CGM), experienced as a circumgalactic wind in the frame of the LMC. Synthetic observations of these simulations allow us to identify parameters that closely match observed RM and DM values. Our best model, which is an excellent match to the real LMC, yields magnetic field strengths of $\sim 1.4\mu \mathrm{G}$ (ordered) and $\sim 1.6\mu \mathrm{G}$ (turbulent). In this model, Milky Way CGM wind experienced by the LMC plays a critical role in shaping the RM data, with the bulk of the RM signal arising not from the LMC's plane, but from warm, $\sim 10^4$ K, gas in a Reynolds layer region $\sim 1$ kpc off the plane where relatively dense material stripped from the LMC is partially ionised by hard extragalactic radiation fields. This finding suggests that we should be cautious about generalising inferences from the LMC to other galaxies that may not be shaped by similar interactions.

20 pages, 13 figures, accepted in MNRAS

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