We propose a novel dust battery mechanism for generating seed magnetic fields in the early Universe, in which charged dust grains are radiatively accelerated, inducing strong electric currents that subsequently generate magnetic fields. Our analysis demonstrates that this process is effective even at very low metallicities (approximately ∼10−5Z⊙), and capable of producing seed fields with significant amplitudes of B ∼ μG around luminous sources over timescales of years to Myr and across spatial scales ranging from au to kpc. Crucially, we find that this mechanism is generically ∼108 times more effective than the radiatively driven electron battery or Biermann battery in relatively cool gas (≪105 K), including both neutral and ionized gas. Furthermore, our results suggest that, to first order, dissipation effects do not appear to significantly impede this process, and that it can feasibly generate coherent seed fields on macroscopically large interstellar medium (ISM) scales (much larger than turbulent dissipation scales or electron mean-free-paths in the ISM). These seed fields could then be amplified by subsequent dynamo actions to the observed magnetic fields in galaxies. Additionally, we propose a subgrid model for integration into cosmological simulations, and the required electric-field expressions for magnetohydrodynamic-particle-in-a-cell simulations that explicitly model dust dynamics. Finally, we explore the broad applicability of this mechanism across different scales and conditions, emphasizing its robustness compared to other known battery mechanisms.
Published May 20, 2025
| Published
Journal Article
Open
Dust Battery: A Novel Mechanism for Seed Magnetic Field Generation in the Early Universe
Abstract
Copyright and License
© 2025. The Author(s). Published by the American Astronomical Society.
Original content from this work may be used under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence. Any further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the title of the work, journal citation and DOI.
Acknowledgement
Support for for N.S. and P.F.H. was provided by NSF Research grants 1911233, 20009234, 2108318, NSF CAREER grant 1455342, and NASA grants 80NSSC18K0562, HST-AR-15800. J.S. acknowledges the support of the Royal Society Te Apārangi, through Marsden-Fund grant MFP-UOO2221 and Rutherford Discovery Fellowship RDF-U001804.
Files
Soliman_2025_ApJ_985_55.pdf
Files
(812.7 kB)
Name | Size | Download all |
---|---|---|
md5:e15d9f0fec5de0d7a1d1769e9c06b56a
|
812.7 kB | Preview Download |
Additional details
- National Science Foundation
- 1911233
- National Science Foundation
- 20009234
- National Science Foundation
- 2108318
- National Science Foundation
- AST-1455342
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration
- 80NSSC18K0562
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration
- HST-AR-15800
- Royal Society Te Apārangi
- MFP-UOO2221
- Royal Society Te Apārangi
- RDF-U001804
- Accepted
-
2025-03-20
- Available
-
2025-05-14Published
- Caltech groups
- Astronomy Department, TAPIR, Walter Burke Institute for Theoretical Physics, Division of Physics, Mathematics and Astronomy (PMA)
- Publication Status
- Published