Primordial Magnetic Field Limits from CMB Trispectrum - Scalar Modes and Planck Constraints

Abstract: Cosmic magnetic fields are observed to be coherent on large scales and could have a primordial origin. Non-Gaussian signals in the cosmic microwave background (CMB) are generated by primordial magnetic fields as the magnetic stresses and temperature anisotropy they induce depend quadratically on the magnetic field. We compute the CMB scalar trispectrum on large angular scales, for nearly scale-invariant magnetic fields, sourced via the Sachs-Wolfe effect. The trispectra induced by magnetic energy density and by magnetic scalar anisotropic stress are found to have typical magnitudes of approximately $10^{-29}$ and $10^{-19}$, respectively. The scalar anisotropic stress trispectrum is also calculated in the flat-sky approximation and yields a similar result. Observational limits on CMB non-Gaussianity from the Planck mission data allow us to set upper limits of $B_0 \lesssim 0.6 $ nG on the present value of the primordial cosmic magnetic field. Considering the inflationary magnetic curvature mode in the trispectrum can further tighten the magnetic field upper limit to $B_0 \lesssim 0.05 $ nG. These sub-nanoGauss constraints from the magnetic trispectrum are the most stringent limits so far on the strength of primordial magnetic fields, on megaparsec scales, significantly better than the limits obtained from the CMB bispectrum and the CMB power spectrum.