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The Chiral Anomaly & Primordial Magnetic Fields
Macroscopic effects of the chiral anomaly on primordial magnetic fields and on the vorticity of the cosmic plasma.
Theoretical Cosmology
Deepen Garg
I am a theoretical cosmologist interested in the very early Universe, mainly in the epochs with energy scale 10 MeV.
Reading the first few milliseconds of the Universe, through the magnetic fields and gravitational waves it might have left behind.
I am currently a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Bonn. Before Bonn I was a visiting researcher at the University of Geneva, where I still have a number of ongoing collaborations.
I completed my PhD (thesis) at Princeton University in 2023; a fuller account of my background can be found in my CV.
What I work on
Research directions
/ 02
Gravitational Waves from Phase Transitions
Stochastic gravitational waves and vorticity generated during cosmological first-order phase transitions.
/ 03
Magnetic Fields from Axion Inflation
The generation of magnetic fields during inflation, with a focus on helical fields in axion-inflationary models.
Argelander-Institut für Astronomie
University of Bonn
Auf Dem Hügel 71, 53121 Bonn
Beyond the research
A tongue-in-cheek bio, originally written for my PhD program's website: an account of my winding road to theoretical physics.
Deepen grew up in a small town called Gidderbaha in the state of Punjab, India. From there he went to IIT Bombay for his undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering. Three semesters into college, he realized that he hated his major, but it was too late to do anything about it by then. He somehow passed his courses and went on to become an Analytics Consultant in a corporate setting. After three years, which he loved, he decided to do something more abstract and fundamental (and, if possible, less useful). So he quit his job with the confidence that, of course, there must be many who are looking to fill physics positions with people with no physics background. While he was surprised that this turned out not to be the case, he did manage to find a few generous people who gave him a chance, and after a couple of stints here and there in India, he found himself in the graduate program at Princeton.
Most of his research time is spent staring at his notebooks in disbelief, bearing the fruits of his idiosyncratic decision-making. When he is not pretending to do physics, he can be found pretending to know how to swim, or sing acapella, or play table tennis. He really misses the Himalayas and has, so far, not been able to move on from that, although he has lately increased his efforts to explore other mountains. He likes long runs along serene canal paths, where tranquil lakes remind him of the lakes in Kashmir. He never says no to an LOTR marathon, however he does find it difficult to resist the urge to recite the dialogue along.
He is happy to answer any questions about his research, life as an early-career physicist, or, in fact, any other topic he may not even be qualified to talk about.