Abstract

Cosmic rays (CRs), relativistic charged particles that permeate the universe, play a crucial role in shaping a broad range of astrophysical phenomena, from the ionization of star-forming molecular clouds to the launching of galactic winds. As a result, CRs are a key ingredient in models of galaxy evolution and structure formation. However, despite many decades of work, the propagation of CRs through galactic magnetic fields remains a major open problem, which severely limits our ability to accurately simulate their impact on galaxies. In this talk, I will discuss recent progress in our understanding of CR transport in the turbulent interstellar medium. I will argue that rare coherent magnetic structures, such as small-scale bends, play a key role in regulating CR propagation. I will support this idea with extremely high-resolution simulations of CR transport in magnetized turbulence and will discuss how these coherent interstellar structures can be probed observationally.