Work

Galactic magnetic fields seeded by ultralight dark photons

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: In this work, we show that ultralight dark photons, which couple to the Standard Model photon through kinetic mixing, can potentially source galactic scale magnetic fields. Although these magnetic fields would be too weak to detect at present in galaxies due to plasma screening effects, we show that dark photons can provide the seed magnetic field strength ( 10 − 20 G ) required for dynamo amplification in galaxies. Such dynamo-amplified magnetic fields are consistent with observations of μ G strength galactic magnetic fields.

Source: Physical review. D/Physical review. D.

DOI: 10.1103/dbbc-pw52

Authors: Joshua Berger, Amit Bhoonah, Joseph Bramante, J. Leo Kim, Ningqiang Song, Lawrence M. Widrow

Institutions: Colorado State University, University of Pittsburgh, Perimeter Institute, Queen's University, Queens University, Arthur B. McDonald-Canadian Astroparticle Physics Research Institute, York University, Chinese Academy of Sciences

Language: English

Topic: Dark Matter and Cosmic Phenomena

Subfield: Nuclear and High Energy Physics

Field: Physics and Astronomy

Domain: Physical Sciences

Open Access status: hybrid

Funders: National Science Foundation, U.S. Department of Energy, Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada, Government of Ontario, Government of Canada, Canada Foundation for Innovation, National Natural Science Foundation of China, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada

Awards: New Approaches to Modeling and Searching for Physics Beyond the Standard Model, PARTICLE PHYSICS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH, G4122660065, G4396098837, G8129826652, G8351509261

OpenAlex ID: W4416188968

FWCI: 2.905

Cites: 65

Cited by: 1

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