| Description: | Recent studies of the correlation between the nonthermal radio continuum and thermal far-infrared (FIR) emission from galaxies shows variations of this correlation as a function of not only the star formation but also the magnetic fields, gas density, and heating sources of dust; i.e., the ISM properties. This suggests that the local radio-FIR correlation could be used as a probe to the interplay between the star formation and the ISM. The interplay between the star formation and gas, as the important ISM component in terms of mass, is partly studied through scaling relations such as the well-known Kennicutt-Schmidt law. I will address the interplay between the star formation and the magnetic fields, as the important ISM component in terms of energy density, by presenting a scaling relation between the star formation rate surface density and the magnetic field strength in galaxies. The effect of the environment of a galaxy on this empirical relation will be further discussed.
The image shows how star formation and magnetic fields control the radio-FIR correlation in the fireworks galaxy NGC6946. |
