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Results for “MAGNETIC MONOPOLES”

Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1985

Results from the UCSD magnetic monopole search

The energy loss mechanism for slowly moving magnetic monopoles in helium provides a means of extending the search for such particles by ionization techniques to velocities approximately 3 X 1 million cm/sec (beta approximately equals 0.0001). Other gases (e.g., CH2 or CO2) mixed with helium will be ionized with high efficiency by collisions with excited helium atoms, thus allowing the use of large proportional chamber systems for the detection of the monopoles. The first reported results utilizing this mechanism was the experiment of Kajino, et al., using a detector with an area-solid angle product alpha time delta alpha of 24.7 square meters sr. They set a limit on the flux of monopoles of 7.2 x 10 to the 13th power cm(-2) sr(-1) sec(-1) at a 90% confidence level for beta 3x 0.0001. Here, the results of a He:CH2 proportional tube array designed to extend the velocity limit down to beta approximately 0.0001 are reported. The detector which has been operating at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) since last summer, is a prototype for a larger array currently under construction at UCSD. The data presented here is from 200 days of live time with the prototype detector.

Masek, G. E.↗
NASA NTRS1982

First results from a superconductive detector for moving magnetic monopoles

A velocity- and mass-independent search for moving magnetic monopoles is being performed by continuously monitoring the current in a 20-sq cm area superconducting loop. A single candidate event, consistent with one Dirac unit of magnetic charge, has been detected during five runs totaling 151 days. These data set an upper limit of 6.1 x

Cabrera, B.↗
DOE OSTI2019

Magnetic monopoles and toroidal moments in LuFeO 3 and related compounds

Magnetic monopoles and toroidal order are compelling features that have long been theorized but remain elusive in real materials. Multiferroic hexagonal ferrites and manganites are an interesting realization of frustrated triangular lattice of spins, where magnetic order is interacting with ferroelectricity and trimerization. In this paper, we discuss a microscopic mechanism by which trimerization leads to a modulation of magnetic exchanges, and therefore magnetic monopolar and toroidal orders emerge from the combination of 120° antiferromagnetism and trimerization. The experimentally observable signatures of magnetic monopolar and toroidal orders are identified in the inelastic neutron scattering cross section, simulated from a microscopic model of LuFeO 3 . The nonreciprocal magnon propagation is demonstrated.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗
DOE OSTI2024

Search for Fast Magnetic Monopoles with NOvA Far Detector

The NOvA experiment at Fermilab consists of two functionally identical liquid scintillator detectors called near detector and far detector to study neutrino oscillations using GeV-scale neutrinos from the Fermilab NuMI beam. Due to its location close to the earth’s surface, surface area of over 4,000 $(m^{2})$, and little overburden, the NOvA far detector is sensitive to an extensive range of magnetic monopole masses and velocities. With the help of the far detector, we are looking for signals of relic monopoles in the cosmic rays flux that might have been produced in the early universe. We have developed the data-driven trigger(DDT), a robust trigger algorithm optimized for continuously searching the magnetic monopole-like patterns in the live data. Due to the surface proximity of the far detector, the major challenge for this analysis at the offline level is the rejection of cosmic ray background in the collected data. In this talk, I will present the status of the search for fast-moving magnetic monopoles using the data collected by the NOvA far detector.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2023

Three-dimensional topological magnetic monopoles and their interactions in a ferromagnetic meta-lattice

Topological magnetic monopoles (TMMs), also known as hedgehogs or Bloch points, are three-dimensional (3D) nonlocal spin textures that are robust to thermal and quantum fluctuations due to the topology protection. Although TMMs have been observed in skyrmion lattices, spinor Bose–Einstein condensates, chiral magnets, vortex rings and vortex cores, it has been difficult to directly measure the 3D magnetization vector field of TMMs and probe their interactions at the nanoscale. Here, we report the creation of 138 stable TMMs at the specific sites of a ferromagnetic meta-lattice at room temperature. We further develop soft x-ray vector ptycho-tomography to determine the magnetization vector and emergent magnetic field of the TMMs with a 3D spatial resolution of 10 nm. This spatial resolution is comparable to the magnetic exchange length of transition metals, enabling us to probe monopole-monopole interactions. We find that the TMM and anti-TMM pairs are separated by 18.3±1.6 nm, while the TMM and TMM, anti-TMM and anti-TMM pairs are stabilized at comparatively longer distances of 36.1±2.4 nm and 43.1±2.0 nm, respectively. We also observe virtual TMMs created by magnetic voids in the meta-lattice. This work demonstrates that ferromagnetic meta lattices could be used as a platform to create and investigate the interactions and dynamics of TMMs. Furthermore, we expect that soft x-ray vector ptycho-tomography can be broadly applied to quantitatively image 3D vector fields in magnetic and anisotropic materials at the nanoscale.

77 NANOSCIENCE AND NANOTECHNOLOGY↗
NASA NTRS1975

Status of the evidence for a magnetic monopole

The experimental evidence supporting the detection of a moving magnetic monopole, using a balloon-borne array of track detectors, was presented. Although the results cannot be proved to have been produced by a monopole, they do not seem to have been produced by any nucleus. The very high, roughly constant ionization rate inferred from track etch rate measurements in a stack of Lexan detectors implies passage of a minimum-ionizing particle more highly charged than any known nucleus, yet the Cerenkov film detectors indicated a velocity less than about 0.68 times the speed of light and the size of the track in the nuclear emulsion indicated a velocity approximately equal to 0.5 times the speed of light. At this velocity the ionization rate of a highly electrically charged particle would have changed dramatically with pathlength unless its mass to charge ratio were far greater than that of a nucleus.

Price, P. B.↗
DOE OSTI2016

Creation of Magnetic Monopoles in Classical Scattering

We consider the creation of ’t Hooft–Polyakov magnetic monopoles by scattering classical wave packets of gauge fields. An example with eight clearly separated magnetic poles created with parity violating helical initial conditions is shown. No clear separation of topological charge is observed with corresponding parity symmetric initial conditions.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2025

Phases of Theories with ℤ 𝑁 1-Form Symmetry, and the Roles of Center Vortices and Magnetic Monopoles

We analyze the phases of theories having a microscopic ℤ 𝑁 1-form symmetry, starting with a topological BF theory and deforming it so that only the microscopic symmetry is preserved. These theories have a well-defined notion of confinement, prototypical examples being pure SU⁡(𝑁) and ℤ 𝑁 gauge theories in the continuum and on the lattice. Our analysis shows that the generic phases are in 𝑑 = 2, only the confined phase; in 𝑑 = 3, both the confined phase and the topological BF phase; and in 𝑑 = 4, the confined phase, the topological BF phase, and a Coulomb phase. We construct a ℤ𝑁 lattice gauge theory with a deformation that, surprisingly, produces up to (𝑁−1) photons. We give an interpretation of these findings in terms of the behaviors of two competing drivers of confinement—magnetic monopoles and center vortices—and conclude that proliferation of center vortices is necessary but insufficient for confinement, while proliferation of magnetic monopoles is both necessary and sufficient.

Color confinement↗
DOE OSTI2025

Search for Magnetic Monopole Pair Production in Ultraperipheral Pb + Pb Collisions at s NN = 5.36 TeV with the ATLAS Detector at the LHC

This Letter presents a search for highly ionizing magnetic monopoles in 262 μ b − 1 of ultraperipheral Pb + Pb collision data at s NN = 5.36 TeV collected by the ATLAS detector at the LHC. A new methodology that exploits the properties of clusters of hits reconstructed in the innermost silicon detector layers is introduced to study highly ionizing particles in heavy-ion data. No significant excess above the background, which is estimated using a data-driven technique, is observed. Using a nonperturbative semiclassical model, upper limits at 95% confidence level are set on the cross section for pair production of monopoles with a single Dirac magnetic charge in the mass range of 20–150 GeV. Depending on the model, monopoles with a single Dirac magnetic charge and mass below 80–120 GeV are excluded. © 2025 CERN, for the ATLAS Collaboration 2025 CERN

Aad, G. (ORCID:0000000266654934)↗
DOE OSTI2016

Line of magnetic monopoles and an extension of the Aharonov–Bohm effect

In the Landau problem on the two-dimensional plane, physical displacement of a charged particle (i.e., magnetic translation) can be induced by an in-plane electric field. The geometric phase accompanying such magnetic translation around a closed path differs from the topological phase of Aharonov and Bohm in two essential aspects: The particle is in direct contact with the magnetic field and the geometric phase has an opposite sign from the Aharonov–Bohm phase. We show that magnetic translation on the two-dimensional cylinder implemented by the Schrödinger time evolution truly leads to the Aharonov–Bohm effect. The magnetic field normal to the cylinder’s surface corresponds to a line of magnetic monopoles of uniform density whose simulation is currently under investigation in cold atom physics. In order to characterize the quantum problem, one needs to specify the value of the magnetic flux (modulo the flux unit) that threads but not in touch with the cylinder. A general closed path on the cylinder may enclose both the Aharonov–Bohm flux and the local magnetic field that is in direct contact with the charged particle. This suggests an extension of the Aharonov–Bohm experiment that naturally takes into account both the geometric phase due to local interaction with the magnetic field and the topological phase of Aharonov and Bohm.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2021

Search for slow magnetic monopoles with the NOvA detector on the surface

We report a search for a magnetic monopole component of the cosmic-ray flux in a 95-day exposure of the NOvA experiment’s Far Detector, a 14 kt segmented liquid scintillator detector designed primarily to observe GeV-scale electron neutrinos. No events consistent with monopoles were observed, setting an upper limit on the flux of 2 × 10 -14 cm -2 s -1 sr -1 at 90% C.L. for monopole speed 6 × 10 -4 < β < 5 × 10 -3 and mass greater than 5 × 10 8 GeV. Because of NOvA’s small overburden of 3 meters-water equivalent, this constraint covers a previously unexplored low-mass region.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2026

Timing-Based Search for Magnetic Monopoles with the NOvA Detector on the Surface

We report a search for a magnetic monopole component of the cosmic-ray flux in a 2743-live-day exposure of the NOvA experiment's Far Detector, a 14 kt segmented liquid scintillator detector designed primarily to observe GeV-scale electron neutrinos. No events consistent with monopoles were observed, setting an upper limit on the flux of $8\times 10^{-16}~\mathrm{cm^{-2}s^{-1}sr^{-1}}$ at 90% C.L. for monopole speed $6\times 10^{-4} < β< 5\times 10^{-3}$ and mass greater than $10^{9}$ GeV. Because of NOvA's small overburden of 3 meters-water equivalent, this constraint covers a previously unexplored low-mass region.

Abubakar, S. [Erciyes U.]↗
NASA NTRS1975

Kinematic constraints on the production of magnetic monopoles

A strict lower limit is derived for the laboratory kinetic energy of a magnetic monopole produced from a target at rest. The production of a monopole-antimonopole pair via the collision of a projectile with a target at rest in the laboratory is analyzed in terms of the velocity of the zero-momentum frame, the velocity of the monopole in that frame, and the velocity of the monopole in the laboratory. The limit obtained is applied to the data of Price et al. (1975), and almost all means of producing the monopole in the atmosphere immediately above the balloon-borne detectors are ruled out. Some mechanisms for slowing a monopole following its production are briefly considered.

Wilson, L. W.↗
DOE OSTI2022

Charged particle motion in spherically symmetric distributions of magnetic monopoles

The classical equations of motion of a charged particle in a spherically symmetric distribution of magnetic monopoles can be transformed into a system of linear equations, thereby providing a type of integrability. In the case of a single monopole, the solution was given long ago by Poincaré. In the case of a uniform distribution of monopoles, the solution can be expressed in terms of parabolic cylinder functions (essentially the eigenfunctions of an inverted harmonic oscillator). Further, this solution is relevant to recent studies of nonassociative star products, symplectic lifts of twisted Poisson structures, and fluids and plasmas of electric and magnetic charges.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
NASA NTRS1985

Magnetic monopole search by 130 m(2)sr He gas proportional counter

A search experiment for cosmic ray magnetic monopoles was performed by means of atomic induction mechanism by using He mixture gas proportional counters of the calorimeter (130 square meters sr) at the center of the Akeno air shower array. In 3,482 hours operation no monopole candidate was observed. The upper limit of the monopole flux is 1.44 x 10 to the minus 13th power cm-z, sec -1, sr-1 (90% C.L.) for the velocity faster than 7 x 0.0001 c.

Hara, T.↗