Fundamental Implications of Intergalactic Magnetic Field Observations

Abstract

Helical intergalactic magnetic fields at the $\sim 10^{-14}\mathrm{G}$ level on $\sim 10\mathrm{Mpc}$ length scales are indicated by current gamma ray observations. The existence of magnetic fields in cosmic voids and their non-trivial helicity suggest that they must have originated in the early universe and thus have implications for the fundamental interactions. I combine present knowledge of the observational constraints and the dynamics of cosmological magnetic fields to derive characteristics that would need to be explained by the magnetic field generation mechanism. The importance of CP violation and a possible crucial role for chiral effects in the early universe are pointed out.

arXiv comment6 pages; updated references, added clarifying remarks

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Cited by in corpus (12)

• Relieving the Hubble tension with primordial magnetic fields
• Baryogenesis from Decaying Magnetic Helicity
• Evolution of hydromagnetic turbulence from the electroweak phase transition
• The Gamma-Ray Window to Intergalactic Magnetism
• Influence of the turbulent motion on the chiral magnetic effect in the early Universe
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• Probing the reheating phase through primordial magnetic field and CMB
• Probing stochastic inter-galactic magnetic fields using blazar-induced gamma ray halo morphology
• Magnetic Field Transfer From A Hidden Sector
• Probing Non-classicality of Primordial Gravitational Waves and Magnetic Field Through Quantum Poincare Sphere