Schwinger pair production of magnetic monopoles: Momentum distribution for heavy-ion collisions

Gould, Oliver; Ho, David L.J.; Rajantie, Arttu

Abstract

Magnetic monopoles may be produced by the dual Schwinger effect in strong magnetic fields. Today, the strongest known magnetic fields in the Universe are produced fleetingly in heavy-ion collisions. We use the complex worldline instanton method to calculate the momentum distribution of magnetic monopoles produced in heavy-ion collisions, in an approximation that includes the effect of the magnetic field to all orders but neglects monopole self-interactions. The result saturates the preparation time-energy uncertainty principle, and yields a necessary ingredient for experimental monopole searches in heavy-ion collisions.

Citation

Gould, O., Ho, D. L., & Rajantie, A. (2021). Schwinger pair production of magnetic monopoles: Momentum distribution for heavy-ion collisions. Physical Review D, 104(1), Article 015033. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.104.015033

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jun 23, 2021
• Online Publication Date: Jul 29, 2021
• Publication Date: Jul 1, 2021
• Deposit Date: Sep 8, 2021
• Publicly Available Date: Sep 8, 2021
• Journal: Physical Review D
• Print ISSN: 2470-0010
• Electronic ISSN: 2470-0029
• Publisher: American Physical Society
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 104
• Issue: 1
• Article Number: 015033
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.104.015033
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/6187486
• Publisher URL: https://journals.aps.org/prd/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevD.104.015033