Overview on cosmic magnetic fields
In order to understand the formation, evolution, and current properties of astrophysical objects, one needs to estimate the forces acting on matter. With its infinitely extending range, gravity is the main candidate for shaping the large-scale structure of the Universe. However, with an estimated fraction of more than 99 %, baryonic matter is predominately in a plasma state, i.e. it includes electrically charged particles. [read more]
Awakening of cosmic magnetic fields
Shortly after the Big Bang, when the Universe was much less than one second old, it was filled with an extremely hot plasma. At these high energies, quantum effects become important making the dynamics of the plasma very complicated. [read more]
The turbulent dynamo during the formation of the first stars and galaxies
A small-scale dynamo, also called turbulent dynamo, is a magneto-hydrodynamical process, in which the kinetic energy from turbulence is converted into magnetic energy. The mechanism is based on the fact that the magnetic field becomes stronger when the magnetic flux ropes are stretched. [read more]
Observing the history of galactic magnetism
While most of my research is purely theoretical, I recently also became interested in finding observational signatures of magnetic fields. The latter are crucial to verify (or falsify?) our current picture of the magnetic history of galaxies. [read more]
Jennifer Schober 