The Connection between Supernova Remnants and the Galactic Magnetic
  Field: A Global Radio Study of the Axisymmetric Sample
  The study of supernova remnants (SNRs) is fundamental to understanding the
chemical enrichment and magnetism in galaxies, including our own Milky Way. In
an effort to understand the connection between the morphology of SNRs and the
Galactic magnetic field (GMF), we have examined the radio images of all known
SNRs in our Galaxy and compiled a large sample that have an "axisymmetric"
morphology, which we define to mean SNRs with a "bilateral" or "barrel"-shaped
morphology, in addition to one-sided shells. We selected the cleanest examples
and model each of these at their appropriate Galactic position using two GMF
models, those of Jansson & Farrar (2012a), which includes a vertical halo
component, and Sun et al. (2008) that is oriented entirely parallel to the
plane. Since the magnitude and relative orientation of the magnetic field
changes with distance from the sun, we analyse a range of distances, from 0.5
to 10 kpc in each case. Using a physically motivated model of a SNR expanding
into the ambient GMF, we find the models using Jansson & Farrar (2012a) are
able to reproduce observed morphologies of many SNRs in our sample. These
results strongly support the presence of an off-plane, vertical component to
the GMF, and the importance of the Galactic field on SNR morphology. Our
approach also provides a potential new method for determining distances to
SNRs, or conversely, distances to features in the large-scale GMF if SNR
distances are known.
