Inflation-produced, large-scale magnetic fields

Michael S. Turner and Lawrence M. Widrow
Phys. Rev. D 37, 2743 – Published 15 May 1988
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Abstract

We study the production of large-scale (Mpc) magnetic fields in inflationary Universe models. The magnetic fields produced are uninterestingly small unless the conformal invariance of the electromagnetic field is broken. Once the conformal invariance is broken, a mechanism akin to ‘‘superadiabatic amplification’’ can operate and lead to sizable primeval magnetic fields. We consider three ways of breaking the conformal invariance: through gravitational couplings of the photon; through the coupling of the photon to a charged massless, nonconformally invariant scalar field; and through the anomalous coupling of the photon to axions. The primeval magnetic fields which result can have astrophysically interesting strengths, but are very model dependent.

  • Received 21 September 1987

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.37.2743

©1988 American Physical Society

Authors & Affiliations

Michael S. Turner and Lawrence M. Widrow

  • NASA/Fermilab Astrophysics Center, Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, Batavia, Ilinois 60510-0500
  • Departments of Physics and Astronomy , Astrophysics, Enrico Fermi Institute, The University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60637

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Vol. 37, Iss. 10 — 15 May 1988

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