Effects of Magnetic Fields on the Gaseous Structures in Spiral Galaxies

Stellar spiral arms and magnetic fields in disk galaxies are important in the formation of gaseous structures such as spurs/feathers and wiggles as well as in angular momentum transport between stars and gas. We present our recent results of global magnetohydrodynamic simulations to study nonlinear responses of self-gravitating and magnetized gas to an imposed stellar spiral potential. We vary the arm strength, the arm pattern speed, and magnetic field strength to explore various galactic situations. Magnetic fields not only reduce the peak density of galactic spiral shocks but also make angular momentum transport more efficient via magnetic pressure and tension forces. The extent and shapes of gaseous arms as well as the radial mass drift rate depend rather sensitively on the magnetic field strength. The wiggle instability apparent in unmagnetized models is suppressed with increasing magnetic field strength, while magnetic fields promote the development of magneto-Jeans instability of the arms and magnetic islands in between arms. We quantify the angular momentum transport by spiral shocks, focusing on the effects of magnetic fields. We also present physical interpretations of our numerical results and discuss astronomical implications of our findings.