On the electric charge of the observable Universe

Abstract

Light fields get large scale fluctuations during inflation. If some of them are electrically charged, then large scale fluctuations of the electric charge will be generated. As a consequence, any finite portion of the Universe, including our observable one, will carry a net electric charge. This fact does not require any form of breaking of the gauge symmetry at any time. We discuss under which conditions such a charge is maintained until the end of inflation, and we estimate its expected magnitude both in the case of charged fermions and of charged scalars. While one charged fermion species yields a charge density that is several orders of magnitude below the observational constraints, extremely light charged scalars can exceed those constraints.