Natural magnetogenesis from inflation

Aug, 2001
36 pages
Published in:
  • Phys.Rev.D 65 (2002) 063505
e-Print:
Report number:
  • IFIC-01-38,
  • HD-THEP-01-30,
  • IMPERIAL-TP-0-01-23,
  • DAMTP-2001-66

Citations per year

200120072013201920250246810
Abstract: (arXiv)
We consider the gravitational generation of the massive Z-boson field of the standard model, due to the natural breaking of its conformal invariance during inflation. The electroweak symmetry restoration at the end of inflation turns the almost scale-invariant superhorizon Z-spectrum into a hypermagnetic field, which transforms into a regular magnetic field at the electroweak phase transition. The mechanism is generic and is shown to generate a superhorizon spectrum of the form B~1/L on a length-scale L regardless of the choice of inflationary model. Scaled to the epoch of galaxy formation such a field suffices to trigger the galactic dynamo and explain the observed galactic magnetic fields in the case of a spatially flat, dark energy dominated Universe with GUT-scale inflation. The possibility of further amplification of the generated field by preheating is also investigated. To this end we study a model of Supersymmetric Hybrid Inflation with a Flipped SU(5) grand unified symmetry group.
  • 98.80.Cq
  • inflation: hybrid
  • supersymmetry
  • grand unified theory: SU(5) x U(1)
  • Z0: production
  • gravitation: effect
  • symmetry breaking: conformal
  • magnetic field: galaxy
  • hypercharge
  • field theory: scalar