New model explains origin of magnetic fields

A novel model explaining the origin and amplification of magnetic fields to their current levels was recently published in the journal Physical Review Letters by a team of researchers from the Institute of Plasmas and Nuclear Fusion at the Instituto Superior Técnico.

The current universe is permeated by magnetic fields, but it is widely accepted that these did not exist in the early universe. This study, funded by FCT, demonstrates, through numerical simulations on supercomputers, that the existence of spatial variations in density and temperature compatible with those existing at the beginning of the universe may have led to the creation of "seed magnetic fields," which may have been responsible for their amplification.

The most plausible explanation for the amplification of magnetic fields is the turbulent dynamo effect. According to this model, a "seed magnetic field" well amalgamated by the dynamo effect leads to the creation of a significant magnetic field.

Kevin Schoeffler, a researcher on the project, believes that “these results represent a significant advance over previous models, in which the value of this seed field was too small for the turbulent dynamo action to be fast enough to allow its growth. In our scenario, which represents a new paradigm for magnetogenesis, it is predicted that seed magnetic fields can be several orders of magnitude more intense."