Faraday tomography: a new, three-dimensional probe of the interstellar magnetic field

Much of our present observational knowledge of the interstellar magnetic field of our Galaxy comes from two different sources, both of which involve mechanisms operating at radio wavelengths: the first one is the Faraday rotation of linearly-polarized radio waves propagating through the magneto-ionic interstellar medium, and the second one is the diffuse synchrotron emission from our Galaxy. I will review what these two classical probes have taught us about the strength, the direction/orientation, and the spatial distribution of the interstellar magnetic field. I will then present a recent method, known as Faraday tomography or rotation measure synthesis, which relies on a combination of Faraday rotation and synchrotron emission and which makes it possible to probe the interstellar magnetic field in three dimensions. (paper)