Magnetizing the universe during reionization

24.11.2017 12:00 – 13:00

An increasing amount of evidence suggests that cosmological sheets, filaments and voids may be substantially magnetised. The origin of magnetic fields in the the Intergalactic Medium is currently uncertain. It seems now well known that non-standard extensions to the physics of the Standard Model are capable of providing mechanisms susceptible of magnetising the Universe at large. Much less well known is the fact that standard, classical physics of matter-radiation interactions possesses actually the same potential. After reviewing briefly our current knowledge about magnetic fields on the largest scales, I will discuss a magnetogenesis mechanism based on the exchange of momentum between hard photons and electrons in an inhomogeneous Intergalactic Medium. Operating in the neighbourhood of ionising sources during the Epoch of Reionization, this mechanism is capable of generating magnetic seeds of relevant strengths on scales comparable to the distance between ionising sources. In addition, summing up the contributions of all ionising sources and taking into account the distribution of gas inhomogeneities, I will show that this mechanism leaves the IGM, at the end of Reionization, with a level of magnetization that might account for the current magnetic fields strengths in the cosmic web.

Lieu

Bâtiment: Ecole de Physique

Salle 234, 24 quai Ernest-Ansermet

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