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Faraday Rotation and Antimatter in the Universe

Abstract

DATA on the Faraday rotation of polarized radio waves from extragalactic sources1–5 have led to various interpretations6–9. For the general case of an ambiplasma (a plasma consisting of matter and antimatter mixed) and assuming that the plasma frequency is negligibly smaller than the wave frequency, the rate of Faraday rotation is proportional to rBλ2 (ref. 10), where r is the ambiplasma lepton residue (r=nenē, with ne=positron density and nē=electron density), B is the component of the magnetic field parallel to the wave vector, and λ is the wavelength. For symmetric ambiplasma, nē=ne, r, and therefore the rotation rate, vanishes. I consider the consequences of this for the interpretation of the astronomical data.

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NELSON, A. Faraday Rotation and Antimatter in the Universe. Nature 241, 185–186 (1973). https://doi.org/10.1038/241185a0

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