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Magnetic fields - Making life interesting

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Abstract: In the vast cosmos, magnetic fields are seemingly omnipresent, influencing phenomena from the scale of interstellar dust grains to entire galaxies. Due to the inherent difficulties in studying and observing magnetic fields, they are often overlooked, but their presence and effects can lead to interesting consequences. Studying magnetic fields at cosmological distances is not easy; however, with the advent of methods like Rotation Measure (RM) synthesis, we have a way to probe magnetic fields at higher redshifts by utilizing the property of light known as Faraday rotation. In the first part of my talk, I will briefly explore the unknowns surrounding magnetic fields, their importance, and the challenges in studying them. In the second part of my talk, I will present broadband polarization observations made with the VLA from 1-3 GHz at 1” resolution. These observations are part of a comprehensive 106-hour survey targeting 201 radio quasars, of which 39 contain an intervening galaxy in their lines of sight. The goal is to use a statistical approach to estimate the RM of the intervening galaxies in the redshift range of 0.1 to 1. This dataset also includes a sub-sample of resolved quasars where we measured the RMs of the radio lobes. This sub-sample represents the first release of these observations, focusing on the fully resolved sources. I will present some of the results of the RMs of the radio lobes and also discuss our approach to understanding the evolution of the magnetic field with redshift in the context of galaxy evolution.