Abstract
Abstract The turbulence in the diffuse intergalactic medium (IGM) plays an important role in various astrophysical processes across cosmic time, but it is very challenging to constrain its statistical properties both observationally and numerically. Via the statistical analysis of turbulence along different sight lines toward a population of fast radio bursts (FRBs), we demonstrate that FRBs provide a unique tool to probe the intergalactic turbulence. We measure the structure function (SF) of dispersion measures (DMs) of FRBs to study the multiscale electron density fluctuations induced by the intergalactic turbulence. The SF has a large amplitude and a Kolmogorov power-law scaling with angular separations, showing large and correlated DM fluctuations over a range of length scales. Given that the DMs of FRBs are IGM dominated, our result tentatively suggests that the intergalactic turbulence has a Kolmogorov power spectrum and an outer scale on the order of 100 Mpc.
Highlights
Turbulence is ubiquitous in astrophysical plasmas in both local and high-redshift universe (Brandenburg & Lazarian 2014)
Statistical measurements of velocity field (Chepurnov et al 2010; Li et al 2020; Xu 2020), density field (Armstrong et al 1995; Burkhart et al 2009; Chepurnov & Lazarian 2010), magnetic field (Han et al 2004; Gaensler et al 2011), and other observables associated with turbulence (Xu & Zhang 2016b, 2017) reveal both the properties and important roles of turbulence in the interstellar medium (ISM) and intracluster medium (ICM)
Despite its astrophysical and cosmological significance, the large-scale intergalactic turbulence and its statistical properties are poorly constrained by both observations and simulations
Summary
Turbulence is ubiquitous in astrophysical plasmas in both local and high-redshift universe (Brandenburg & Lazarian 2014) It accompanies the large-scale structure formation and amplifies cosmic magnetic fields (Ryu et al 2008). Statistical measurements of velocity field (Chepurnov et al 2010; Li et al 2020; Xu 2020), density field (Armstrong et al 1995; Burkhart et al 2009; Chepurnov & Lazarian 2010), magnetic field (Han et al 2004; Gaensler et al 2011), and other observables associated with turbulence (Xu & Zhang 2016b, 2017) reveal both the properties and important roles of turbulence in the interstellar medium (ISM) and intracluster medium (ICM).
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