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Article Contents

ABSTRACT

1.A TRIPLE POINT

2.FROM ALFVÉN TO ROSAT

3.LARGE-SCALE MAGNETIC FIELDS OBSERVATIONS

3.1.Zeeman splitting

3.2.Synchrotron emission

3.3.Faraday Rotation Measurements

3.4.Magnetic fields in the Milky Way

3.5.Magnetic fields in external galaxies

3.6.Magnetic fields in Abell clusters

3.7.Magnetic fields in superclusters

4.GLOBALLY NEUTRAL PLASMAS

4.1.Qualitative aspects of plasma dynamics

4.2.Kinetic and fluid descriptions

4.3.From one-fluid equations to MHD

4.4.The Alfvén theorems

4.5.Magnetic diffusivity equation

4.6.The dynamo mechanism

5.MAGNETIC FIELDS IN CURVED BACKGROUNDS

5.1.The standard cosmological model

5.2.Gauge fields in FRW Universes

5.3.Physical scales in the evolution of magnetic fields

5.4.Charge and current density fluctuations

5.5.Inverse cascades

5.6.Hypermagnetic fields

6.TWO APPROACHES TO THE ORIGIN

6.1.Inhomogeneous MHD equations

6.2.Inflationary mechanisms

6.3.Inside the Hubble radius

6.4.Mixed mechanisms

7.EFFECTS OF PRIMORDIAL MAGNETIC FIELDS

7.1Electroweak epoch

7.2Big-bang nucleosynthesis epoch

8.CMB PHYSICS AN MAGNETIC FIELDS

8.1.Large-scale magnetic fields and CMB anisotropies

8.2.Faraday rotation of CMB

8.3.Relic gravitational waves

9.GRAVITATING MAGNETIC FIELDS

10.CONCLUDING REMARKS

COMPLEMENTS ON MHD DESCRIPTION

REFERENCES