Heidelberg Joint Astronomical Colloquium

Speaker Kandaswamy Subramanian
Title Magnetic fields in the early universe
Abstract

Coherent large scale magnetic fields have been observed in all objects probed till now, including galaxies and even the intergalactic space in clusters of galaxies. Their origin and evolution continues to remain intriguing. We discuss the possibility of their origin in the early universe, for example during the period of inflation or other symmetry breaking phase transitions. Primordial magnetic fields can also leave interesting signals in the Cosmic Microwave background radiation, and influence early structure formation in crucial ways. We discuss how these CMB and structure formation signals could offer a sensitive probe of primordial magnetic fields.