Searching for primordial helical magnetic fields

The presence of nonzero helicity in intergalactic magnetic fields (IGMF) has been suggested as a clear signature for their primordial origin. We extend a previous analysis of diffuse Fermi-LAT gamma-ray data from 2.5 to more than 11 years and show that a hint for helical magnetic fields in the 2.5 y...

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Veröffentlicht in:Physical review. D 2020-10, Vol.102 (8), Article 083001
Hauptverfasser: Kachelrieß, M., Martinez, B. C.
Format: Artikel
Sprache:eng
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Zusammenfassung:The presence of nonzero helicity in intergalactic magnetic fields (IGMF) has been suggested as a clear signature for their primordial origin. We extend a previous analysis of diffuse Fermi-LAT gamma-ray data from 2.5 to more than 11 years and show that a hint for helical magnetic fields in the 2.5 year data was a statistical fluctuation. Then we examine the detection prospects of helical magnetic fields using individual sources as, e.g., TeV gamma-ray blazars. We find that a detection is challenging employing realistic models for the cascade evolution, the IGMF and the detector resolution in our simulations.
ISSN:2470-0010
2470-0029
DOI:10.1103/PhysRevD.102.083001