Massive magnetic monopoles: Indirect and direct limits on their number density and flux
The existence of very massive magnetic monopoles is a necessary consequence of most unified theories of the strong, electromagnetic, and weak interactions. Estimates of their masses range from 10/sup 15/ to 10/sup 17/ that of a proton. Monopoles should have been produced in the ''big bang'' and survived to the present, either trapped in matter or in flight. By virtue of their huge mass, these monopoles might have eluded previous searches designed to detect monopoles with much smaller mass. I review the indirect limits which can be placed on monopoles because of the existence of large-scale galactic magnetic fields. I also review the experimental searches and reinterpret them to obtain limits for very massive monopoles. If the monopole masses are < or approx. =5 x 10/sup 14/ GeV/c/sup 2/, their concentration must be < or approx. =10/sup -27/ monopoles/nucleon from searches for monopoles trapped in meteorites. This limit is several orders of magnitude lower than the astrophysical limits.
- Research Organization:
- University of Michigan, Department of Physics, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109
- OSTI ID:
- 5201068
- Journal Information:
- Phys. Rev. D; (United States), Vol. 25:9
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
GENERAL PHYSICS
72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS
MAGNETIC MONOPOLES
MASS
UNIFIED GAUGE MODELS
ASTROPHYSICS
LIMITING VALUES
MAGNETIC FIELDS
PROTONS
UNIVERSE
BARYONS
ELEMENTARY PARTICLES
FERMIONS
HADRONS
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
MONOPOLES
NUCLEONS
PARTICLE MODELS
POSTULATED PARTICLES
640106* - Astrophysics & Cosmology- Cosmology
645201 - High Energy Physics- Particle Interactions & Properties-Theoretical- General & Scattering Theory