A model for the magnetic-field structure in extended radio sources

Abstract

This paper describes a model for the magnetic-field configuration in extended radio sources in which an initially random field has been compressed or sheared to lie entirely in one plane. The polarization properties of radiation from electrons in such a field are evaluated and the expected degree and direction for some simple geometries are derived. The predictions of the model are in good agreement with observations of extragalactic radio sources and of the filaments in the Crab Nebula.