NASA Logo

NTRS

NTRS - NASA Technical Reports Server

Back to Results
Magnetic fields greater than 10 to the 20th power gaussZaumen (1976) found that spontaneous pair production in a uniform magnetic field should be a feasible process for field strengths at least of the order of 10 to the 20th power gauss. This note points out that a magnetic field of this order of magnitude is most unlikely to occur in realistic astrophysical situations because of the large dynamical and quantum-mechanical effects such a field would produce. It is suggested that Zaumen's calculation would probably have little bearing on the suspected evolution of astrophysical systems since other processes (either dynamical or quantum-mechanical) apparently limit the field strength before such high magnetic fields would be reached. An upper limit of about 10 to the 16th power gauss is obtained by considering the isotropy of the 3-K blackbody radiation, the formation of collapsed objects in very high magnetic fields, and magnetic bremsstrahlung processes in quantum electrodynamics.
Document ID
19780030809
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
External Source(s)
Authors
Lerche, I.
(Chicago Univ. Chicago, IL, United States)
Schramm, D. N.
(Chicago, University Chicago, Ill., United States)
Date Acquired
August 9, 2013
Publication Date
September 15, 1977
Publication Information
Publication: Astrophysical Journal
Subject Category
Astrophysics
Accession Number
78A14718
Funding Number(s)
CONTRACT_GRANT: NSF AST-76-21707
CONTRACT_GRANT: NGL-14-001-001
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other

Available Downloads

There are no available downloads for this record.
No Preview Available