One Loop Field Strengths of Charges and Dipoles on a Locally de Sitter Background

Abstract

We use the one loop vacuum polarization induced by scalar quantum electrodynamics to compute the electric and magnetic fields of point charges and magnetic dipoles on a locally de Sitter background. Our results are consistent with the physical picture of an inflating universe filling with a vast sea of charged particles as more and more virtual infrared scalar are ripped out of the vacuum. One consequence is that vacuum polarization quickly becomes nonperturbatively strong. Our computation employs the Schwinger-Keldysh effective field equations and is done in flat, conformal coordinates. Results are also obtained for static coordinates.