Alignments in quasar polarizations: pseudoscalar-photon mixing in the presence of correlated magnetic fields

Understand

We investigate the effects of pseudoscalar-photon mixing on electromagnetic radiation in the presence of correlated extragalactic magnetic fields.

• We model the Universe as a collection of magnetic domains and study the propagation of radiation through them.
• This leads to correlations between Stokes parameters over large scales and consistently explains the observed large-scale alignment of quasar polarizations at different redshifts within the framework of the big bang model.