Magnetic fields and gas flows around circumnuclear starbursts
  Radio continuum observations of barred galaxies revealed strong magnetic
fields of >= 50-100 muG in the circumnuclear starbursts. Such fields are
dynamically important and give rise to magnetic stress that causes inflow of
gas towards the center at a rate of several solar masses per year, possibly
along the spiral field seen in radio polarization and as optical dust lanes.
This may solve the long-standing question of how to feed active nuclei, and
explain the relation between the bolometric luminosity of AGN nuclei and the
star-formation rate of their hosts. The strong magnetic fields generated in
young galaxies may serve as the link between star formation and accretion onto
supermassive black holes. -- Magnetic fields of >= 160 muG strength were
measured in the central region of the almost edge-on starburst galaxy NGC 253.
Four filaments emerging from the inner disk delineate the boundaries of the
central outflow cone of hot gas. Strong Faraday rotation of the polarized
emission from the background disk indicates a large-scale helical field in the
outflow walls.
