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Related Experiment Videos

Photon mass from inflation.

Tomislav Prokopec1, Ola Törnkvist, Richard Woodard

  • 1Institut für Theoretische Physik, Heidelberg University, Philosophenweg 16, Germany. T.Prokopec@thphys.uni-heidelberg.de

Physical Review Letters
|September 13, 2002
PubMed
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Vacuum polarization during de Sitter inflation dynamically generates photon mass via a Schwinger mechanism. This phenomenon, applicable to light scalar fields, may create large-scale magnetic fields.

Area of Science:

  • Cosmology
  • Quantum Field Theory
  • Particle Physics

Background:

  • De Sitter inflation is a key model for the early universe.
  • Vacuum polarization is a quantum effect influencing particle properties.
  • The Schwinger mechanism describes particle mass generation in strong fields.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate vacuum polarization in massless scalar electrodynamics during de Sitter inflation.
  • To explore the dynamic generation of photon mass in this cosmological context.
  • To determine the potential implications for cosmological magnetic fields.

Main Methods:

  • Analysis of vacuum polarization using massless scalar electrodynamics.
  • Application of theoretical framework to de Sitter inflationary background.

Related Experiment Videos

  • Examination of the Schwinger mechanism in a 3+1 dimensional setting.

    • Main Results:

    • A 3+1 dimensional analog of the Schwinger mechanism was identified.
    • Dynamic generation of photon mass was demonstrated.
    • The mechanism was shown to be generic for light scalar fields minimally coupled to gravity.

    Conclusions:

    • The nonvanishing photon mass during inflation can lead to the generation of magnetic fields on cosmological scales.
    • This mechanism provides a potential source for primordial magnetic fields.
    • The findings have implications for understanding the early universe and cosmic magnetism.