Magnetic field generation in curved spacetimes

Swadesh M. Mahajan, Felipe A. Asenjo

Published 2011-03-23, updated 2012-10-08Version 3

Using the generally covariant magnetofluid formalism for a hot plasma, a new curvature (of space time) driven mechanism for generating seed vorticity/magnetic field is presented. The "battery" owes its origin to the interaction between gravity (epitomized in the spatial variation of the metric tensor) and the inhomogeneous plasma thermodynamics. The general relativistic drive for the seed field is evaluated in a simplified model of a hot plasma accreting around a Schwarzschild black hole. Some astrophysical applications are suggested.