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K. Jedamzik (MPA Garching, Germany)
Cosmic magnetic fields, present at the time around recombination, may have an important impact on the early formation of small-scale structure in the universe by non-gravitational means. A summary of the relevant physical scales entering into the dynamics of a magnetized cosmic baryon fluid and presently known observational constraints on the existence of such fields are given. It is shown that for observationally allowed field strength of B~ 10-9Gauss (scaled to the present) local baryon over-densities, \delta\rhob/rhob, as large as ~10 - 103 on comoving scales of ~100pc - 1kpc may be dynamically generated by magnetic fields even before the epoch of recombination. Non-linear baryon clustering on larger spatial scales may occur after recombination. The significant impact which such baryonic clumping may have on galaxy formation, reionization, and the intergalactic medium is discussed.
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