Probing 3-D magnetic fields in the star formation process from clouds to cores
- Editor(s):
- Moullet, A.; Burgarella, D.; Kataria, T.; Beuther.; H, Battersby, C.; Cheng, M.; Essinger-Hileman, T.; Inami, H.; Mills, E.; Nagao, T.; Unwin, S.
Abstract
Accurate measurements of 3D magnetic fields (B-fields) in filaments are crucial for understanding the key role that magnetic fields play in the star formation process. 3D B-fields are also crucial for modeling the propagation of cosmic rays (CRs) in molecular clouds, filaments, and cores, which play an important role in gas ionization and ambipolar diffusion during protostellar disk formation. Dust polarization induced by aligned grains only provides the B-field projected on the plane of the sky (2D B-field), but the line-of-sight component (or B-field's inclination angle) is not available. Recently, Hoang & Truong (2024) and Truong & Hoang (2025) developed a new technique to infer the B-field's inclination angle using the observed dust polarization degree with modern grain alignment theory. Through this new technique, 3D B-fields can be reconstructed by combining the 2D B-fields measured by the Davis-Chandrasekhar-Fermi (DCF) technique and the B-field's inclination angle. We propose to use the polarized dust emission mapped by Primager and innovative analysis techniques based on polarization fraction to construct 3-D structures of B-fields from molecular clouds to core scales.
