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Self-consistent evolution of magnetic fields and chiral asymmetry in the early universe
Alexey Boyarsky1, Jürg Fröhlich, Oleg Ruchayskiy
1Instituut-Lorentz for Theoretical Physics, Universiteit Leiden, Niels Bohrweg 2, Leiden, The Netherlands.
Abstract:
We show that the evolution of magnetic fields in a primordial plasma, filled with standard model particles at temperatures T≳10 MeV, is strongly affected by the chiral anomaly-an effect previously neglected. Although reactions, equilibrating left and right electrons, are in thermal equilibrium for T≲80 TeV, a left-right asymmetry develops in the presence of strong magnetic fields. This results in magnetic helicity transfer from shorter to longer scales and lepton asymmetry present in the plasma until T~10 MeV, which may strongly affect many processes in the early Universe.
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