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Unpublished Paper
Magnetic Fields in an Expanding Universe
Classical and Quantum Gravity (2014)
  • David Kastor, University of Massachusetts - Amherst
  • Jennie Traschen, University of Massachusetts - Amherst
Abstract

We find a solution to 4D Einstein-Maxwell theory coupled to a massless dilaton field describing a Melvin magnetic field in an expanding universe with 'stiff matter' equation of state parameter w=+1. As the universe expands, magnetic flux becomes more concentrated around the symmetry axis for dilaton coupling a<1/3√ and more dispersed for a>1/3√. An electric field circulates around the symmetry axis in the direction determined by Lenz's law. For a=0 the magnetic flux through a disk of fixed comoving radius is proportional to the proper area of the disk. This result disagrees with the usual expectation based on a test magnetic field that this flux should be constant, and we show why this difference arises. We also find a Melvin solution in an accelerating universe with w=−7/9 for a dilaton field with a certain exponential potential. Our main tools are simple manipulations in 5D Kaluza-Klein theory and related solution generating techniques. We also discuss a number of directions for possible extensions of this work.

Keywords
  • black holes,
  • magnetic fields,
  • Kaluza–Klein
Publication Date
March 20, 2014
Comments
This is the pre-published version harvested from ArXiv.org. The published version is located at http://iopscience.iop.org/0264-9381/31/7/075023/pdf/0264-9381_31_7_075023.pdf.
Citation Information
David Kastor and Jennie Traschen. "Magnetic Fields in an Expanding Universe" Classical and Quantum Gravity (2014)
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/david_kastor/45/