Backgrounds of squeezed relic photons and their spatial correlations

TL;DR

This paper investigates the quantum properties and spatial correlations of squeezed relic photons generated by varying gauge couplings in string cosmology, highlighting their potential observational signatures.

Contribution

It provides a quantum mechanical analysis of multi-photon squeezed states produced by dilaton coupling variations, including correlation functions relevant for cosmological magnetic fields.

Findings

Photons are strongly bunched due to dilaton coupling variation.

Produced photon states exhibit significant amplitude and intensity interference.

Results suggest observable effects on cosmic magnetic fields and CMB polarization.

Abstract

We discuss the production of multi-photons squeezed states induced by the time variation of the (Abelian) gauge coupling constant in a string cosmological context. Within a fully quantum mechanical approach we solve the time evolution of the mean number of produced photons in terms of the squeezing parameters and in terms of the gauge coupling. We compute the first (amplitude interference) and second order (intensity interference) correlation functions of the magnetic part of the photon background. The photons produced thanks to the variation of the dilaton coupling are strongly bunched for the realistic case where the growth of the dilaton coupling is required to explain the presence of large scale magnetic fields and, possibly of a Faraday rotation of the Cosmic Microwave Background.