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Photon Mass from Inflation

Tomislav Prokopec, Ola Törnkvist, and Richard Woodard
Phys. Rev. Lett. 89, 101301 – Published 15 August 2002
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Abstract

We consider vacuum polarization from massless scalar electrodynamics in de Sitter inflation. The theory exhibits a 3+1 dimensional analog of the Schwinger mechanism in which a photon mass is dynamically generated. The mechanism is generic for light scalar fields that couple minimally to gravity. The nonvanishing of the photon mass during inflation may result in magnetic fields on cosmological scales.

  • Figure
  • Figure
  • Received 29 May 2002

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.89.101301

©2002 American Physical Society

Authors & Affiliations

Tomislav Prokopec*

  • Institut für Theoretische Physik, Heidelberg University, Philosophenweg 16, D-69120 Heidelberg, Germany

Ola Törnkvist

  • Theoretical Physics Group, Imperial College, Prince Consort Road, London SW7 2BZ, United Kingdom

Richard Woodard

  • Department of Physics, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida 32611

  • *Electronic address: T.Prokopec@thphys.uni-heidelberg.de
  • Electronic address: o.tornkvist@ic.ac.uk
  • Electronic address: woodard@phys.ufl.edu

See Also

Photon Mass Gets a Boost

JR Minkel
Phys. Rev. Focus 10, 9 (2002)

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Issue

Vol. 89, Iss. 10 — 2 September 2002

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