Cosmic Magnetic Fields

Description

Magnetic fields pervade the universe and play an important role in many astrophysical processes. However, they require specialised observational tools, and are challenging to model and understand. This volume provides a unified view of magnetic fields across astrophysical and cosmological contexts, drawing together disparate topics that are rarely covered together. Written by the lecturers of the XXV Canary Islands Winter School, it offers a self-contained introduction to cosmic magnetic fields on a range of scales. The connections between the behaviours of magnetic fields in these varying contexts are particularly emphasised, from the relatively small and close ranges of the Sun, planets and stars, to galaxies and clusters of galaxies, as well as on cosmological scales. Aimed at young researchers and graduate students, this up-to-date review uniquely brings together a subject often tackled by disconnected communities, conveying the latest advances as well as highlighting the limits of our current understanding.

Jorge Sanchez Almeida is a senior researcher at the Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias, Spain. He has worked in several astrophysical fields including the cosmic microwave background, astronomical spectropolarimetry, solar magnetometry, galaxy formation and evolution, and big data science. He is author of more than a hundred refereed papers and has edited two books on solar magnetic fields. He has a wealth of experience teaching astronomical optics and solar magnetometry at graduate level. Maria Jesus Martinez Gonzalez is the principal investigator of a research project on stellar magnetism and spectropolarimetry at the Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias, Spain. She has authored 50 research papers, and was awarded the JOSO prize in 2011 for the best paper by a young solar physicist. She is also a member of the Board of Directors of the Spanish Astronomical Society.