Cosmological magnetic fields from inflation in extended electromagnetism

Journal Article · Sat Jan 15 00:00:00 EST 2011 · Physical Review. D, Particles Fields

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PHYSREVD.83.023514· OSTI ID:21503936

Beltran Jimenez, Jose; Maroto, Antonio L ^[1]

---

1. Departamento de Fisica Teorica, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, 28040, Madrid (Spain)

In this work we consider an extended electromagnetic theory in which the scalar state which is usually eliminated by means of the Lorenz condition is allowed to propagate. This state has been shown to generate a small cosmological constant in the context of standard inflationary cosmology. Here we show that the usual Lorenz gauge-breaking term now plays the role of an effective electromagnetic current. Such a current is generated during inflation from quantum fluctuations and gives rise to a stochastic effective charge density distribution. Because of the high electric conductivity of the cosmic plasma after inflation, the electric charge density generates currents which give rise to both vorticity and magnetic fields on sub-Hubble scales. Present upper limits on vorticity coming from temperature anisotropies of the CMB are translated into lower limits on the present value of cosmic magnetic fields. We find that, for a nearly scale invariant vorticity spectrum, magnetic fields B{sub {lambda}>}10{sup -12} G are typically generated with coherence lengths ranging from subgalactic scales up to the present Hubble radius. Those fields could act as seeds for a galactic dynamo or even account for observations just by collapse and differential rotation of the protogalactic cloud.

• OSTI ID: 21503936
• Journal Information: Physical Review. D, Particles Fields, Vol. 83, Issue 2; Other Information: DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevD.83.023514; (c) 2011 American Institute of Physics; ISSN 0556-2821
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS
ANISOTROPY
COHERENCE LENGTH
COSMOLOGICAL CONSTANT
COSMOLOGY
DENSITY
EFFECTIVE CHARGE
ELECTRIC CHARGES
ELECTRIC CONDUCTIVITY
ELECTROMAGNETISM
FLUCTUATIONS
HUBBLE EFFECT
MAGNETIC FIELDS
PLASMA
RELICT RADIATION
ROTATION
SPECTRA
STOCHASTIC PROCESSES
DIMENSIONS
ELECTRICAL PROPERTIES
ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION
LENGTH
MAGNETISM
MICROWAVE RADIATION
MOTION
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
RADIATIONS
VARIATIONS