Oral Presentation

Can we trace magnetic fields via polarized infrared emission from PAHs?

Author(s): Thiem Hoang (KASI & UST)

Presenter: Thiem Hoang (KASI and UST)

Polarized mid-infrared emission from polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) potentially opens a new window into studying magnetic fields. In this talk, I will first present the basic physics of alignment of PAHs with the magnetic field in an anisotropic radiation field. Then, I will describe a new model of polarized PAH emission that takes into account the effect of PAH alignment with the magnetic field, and present our predictions for the polarization degree and polarization angles of the strong PAH emission features. Finally, I will discuss important implications of this work for tracing magnetic fields via mid-IR PAH features and for constraining the polarization of anomalous microwave emission that is needed for the quest of CMB B-modes.