Faraday Depolarization Effects in Spiral Galaxies

Magnetic fields in the universe play an essential role in observations of the radio synchrotron continuum; however, we do not know enough about them, either observationally or theoretically. We are interested in galactic magnetic fields because they affect the structural formation of galaxies in terms of star-forming regions, spiral arms, and threads at the galactic center. To clarify the importance of magnetic fields, we carried out numerical simulations of the galactic gaseous disk with magnetic fields. We also calculated observables, such as the rotation measure and Stokes parameters, from the results of numerical simulation. FD maps and intensity maps have been reported, and the relation between azimuthal angle and FD has been shown to depend on the inclination of the observer. Furthermore, it has been shown that a polarized intensity below 800 MHz reflects field structure in the halo region, although the intensity is weak. The present paper summarizes the effects of Faraday depolarization and the relation between magnetic-field structure and Stokes parameters. View Full-Tex