Simon Fraser University
SFU Cosmology Seminars

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Tuesday, 28 January 2014, 14:00 in P8445B

Prof. Ivan Agullo (Louisiana State University)

Conformal anomaly and primordial magnetic fields

A long standing open question in cosmology concerns the origin of the magnetic field observed in galaxies and galaxy clusters. The claimed detection of a magnetic field in the intergalactic space provides further support to the proposal of a primordial origin. In this talk I will discuss how the well known conformal anomaly in quantum field theory in curved space-times is able to generate a sizable magnetic field during a phase of slow-roll inflation. The derivation is robust from the theoretical viewpoint and provides interesting lessons on the properties of quantum fields during inflation.

Seminars in 2013:

2013-09-10 14:00 in P8445B - Andrei Frolov (SFU): Intermittent non-Gaussianity
2013-09-20 14:30 in AQ3150 - Christopher Stubbs (Harvard University): The dark energy crisis in the longer term (physics colloquium)
2013-10-01 14:00 in P8445B - Ali Narimani (UBC): Minimal parameterizations for modified gravity
2013-10-04 14:30 in AQ3150 - Joseph Polchinski (KITP): The black hole information paradox, alive and kicking (physics colloquium)
2013-10-08 14:00 in P8445B - Yin-Zhe Ma (UBC): Cosmic peculiar velocity field
2013-10-22 14:00 in P8445B - Alireza Hojjati (SFU): Cosmology with strong lensing time delays
2013-10-29 14:00 in P8445B - Levon Pogosian (SFU): Primordial magnetism in CMB polarization
2013-11-01 14:30 in AQ3150 - Neil Turok (Perimeter Institute): On quantum tunnelling (physics colloquium)
2013-11-12 14:00 in P8445B - Jun-Qi Guo (SFU): Spherical collapse in f(R) gravity
2013-11-19 14:00 in P8445B - Jes Ford (UBC): Weighing galaxy clusters with weak lensing magnification
2014-01-28 14:00 in P8445B - Ivan Agullo (Louisiana State University): Conformal anomaly and primordial magnetic fields
2014-03-04 14:00 in P8445B - Thomas Kephart (Vanderbilt University): Helicity conservation and generalized Beltrami fields
2014-04-08 14:00 in P8445B - Zhiqi Huang (CITA, University of Toronto): Inflation trajectories after Planck and BICEP2
2014-05-06 16:00 in Saywell 10081 - Rocky Kolb (University of Chicago): The Quantum and the Cosmos (public lecture)
2014-08-15 14:00 in P8445B - Dmitri Pogosyan (University of Alberta): Topology of the Universe from Planck CMB data

[ See complete seminar archives | iCal feed ]

Modified by Andrei Frolov <frolov@sfu.ca> on 2023-11-01