Thermal and Non-Thermal Acceleration of Multiphase Galactic Winds: Bipartisan Wind Driving?

John Everett

May 02, 2011

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Abstract: Galactic winds are observed to be a mirror of the energized ISM that launches them: hot winds include cool clouds, dust, magnetic fields, and cosmic rays. Understanding these components is central to building a predictive model of the outflow of mass, angular momentum, and energy from galaxies. In pursuit of this, our group has built a model combining the thermal and non-thermal components of multi-phase winds. First, I will briefly review our work in adding cosmic-ray pressure and heating to galactic wind models, and our discovery of a galactic wind from our Milky Way. I will then introduce a semi-analytic model that combines cosmic-ray pressure, thermal pressure, magnetic pressure, and galactic rotation into one model, and address how cosmic rays and cool clouds interact within this wind. We are applying this model and other studies of ISM energization to understand the nearby starbursts M 82 and NGC 253 and the possible WMAP/Fermi ‘Haze’ towards the Galactic Center.