2004/10/31 by Amjad Ashoorioon, Robert B. Mann · 15 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #Black Holes and Theoretical Physics #Cosmology and Gravitation Theories #Solar and Space Plasma Dynamics #astro-ph #gr-qc #hep-th
paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physrevd.71.103509
published as Phys.Rev. D71 (2005) 103509 · Latex, 16 pages, 2 figures, 4 references added, minor corrections; v4: more references added, boundary term written in a covariant form, discussion regarding other gauge fields added, submitted to PRD; v5: matched with the published version
arxiv created 2005/05/16 · openalex publication_date 2005/05/16 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
Inflation has the potential to seed the galactic magnetic fields observed today. However, there is an obstacle to the amplification of the quantum fluctuations of the electromagnetic field during inflation: namely, the conformal invariance of electromagnetic theory on a conformally flat underlying geometry. As the existence of a preferred minimal length breaks the conformal invariance of the background geometry, it is plausible that this effect could induce electromagnetic field amplification. We show that this scenario is equivalent to endowing the photon with a large negative mass during inflation. This effective mass is negligibly small in a radiation and matter-dominated universe. Depending on the value of the free parameter in the theory, we show that the seed required by the dynamo mechanism can be generated. We also show that this mechanism can produce the requisite galactic magnetic field without resorting to a dynamo mechanism.