Primordial magnetic seed field amplification by gravitational waves
- Department of Mathematics and Applied Mathematics, University of Cape Town, 7701 Rondebosch (South Africa)
- Department of Physics, Umeaa University, SE-901 87 Umeaa (Sweden)
Using second-order gauge-invariant perturbation theory, a self-consistent framework describing the nonlinear coupling between gravitational waves and a large-scale homogeneous magnetic field is presented. It is shown how this coupling may be used to amplify seed magnetic fields to strengths needed to support the galactic dynamo. In situations where the gravitational wave background is described by an 'almost' Friedmann-Lemaitre-Robertson-Walker (FLRW) cosmology we find that the magnitude of the original magnetic field is amplified by an amount proportional to the magnitude of the gravitational wave induced shear anisotropy and the square of the field's initial comoving scale. We apply this mechanism to the case where the seed field and gravitational wave background are produced during inflation and find that the magnitude of the gravitational boost depends significantly on the manner in which the estimate of the shear anisotropy at the end of inflation is calculated. Assuming a seed field of 10{sup -34} G spanning a comoving scale of about 10 kpc today, the shear anisotropy at the end of inflation must be at least as large as 10{sup -40} in order to obtain a generated magnetic field of the same order of magnitude as the original seed. Moreover, contrasting the weak-field approximation to our gauge-invariant approach, we find that while both methods agree in the limit of high conductivity, their corresponding solutions are otherwise only compatible in the limit of infinitely long-wavelength gravitational waves.
- OSTI ID:
- 20774512
- Journal Information:
- Physical Review. D, Particles Fields, Vol. 72, Issue 12; Other Information: DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevD.72.123514; (c) 2005 The American Physical Society; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0556-2821
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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