The collisions of high-velocity clouds with the galactic halo

Spiral galaxies are surrounded by a widely distributed hot coronal gas and seem to be fed by infalling clouds of neutral hydrogen gas with low metallicity and high velocities. We numerically study plasma waves produced by the collisions of these high-velocity clouds (HVCs) with the hot halo gas and with the gaseous disk. In particular, we tackle two problems numerically: 1) collisions of HVCs with the galactic halo gas and 2) the dispersion relations to obtain the phase and group velocities of plasma waves from the equations of plasma motion as well as further important physical characteristics such as magnetic tension force, gas pressure, etc. The obtained results allow us to understand the nature of MHD waves produced during the collisions in galactic media and lead to the suggestion that these waves can heat the ambient halo gas. These calculations are aiming at leading to a better understanding of dynamics and interaction of HVCs with the galactic halo and of the importance of MHD waves as a heating process of the halo gas. (C) 2011 Elsevier BM. All rights reserved.