Poster Presentation

Probing the interplay between thermal and non-thermal processes of molecular clouds in the multi-messenger, multi-wavelength era

Author(s): Ellis R. Owen (NTHU)

Presenter: Ellis Owen (NTHU)

Studies of molecular clouds in our galaxy have revealed complex structures with substantial variation of their physical characteristics and dynamical processes over different length-scales. Ionisation of the gas within the dense shielded clumps/cores deep within these clouds, at rates of around 10^-15-10^-17 s^-1, indicates that they are bathed by an influx of non-thermal energetic (charged) particles. The propagation and distribution of this non-thermal population is is regulated by the ambient magnetic fields threaded through the clouds and into the clumps/cores therein. In this talk, I will outline how the interactions between the high-energy particle flux and the cloud environment can affect its the internal properties — in particular the gas temperature — and discuss how this could modify its subsequent evolution and fragmentation/collapse, and how this may vary under different interstellar conditions (e.g. in starbursts and/or high-redshift galaxies). I will consider how these particles can offer ways the dense gas and magnetic field structure of molecular clouds may be probed, via gamma-ray emission and polarised leptonic radio synchrotron emission with the up-coming CTA and SKA, and outline how this complements ongoing efforts, e.g. via polarised sub-mm dust emission with ALMA.