Classical production of 't Hooft-Polyakov monopoles from magnetic fields

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates that in the SU(2) Georgi-Glashow model, monopoles can be produced classically via magnetic field instabilities or thermally, with implications for heavy-ion collisions and the early Universe.

Contribution

It shows the classical production mechanism of 't Hooft-Polyakov monopoles in magnetic fields and compares it with thermal production, providing new insights into monopole generation.

Findings

Monopoles are produced by classical instability above the critical magnetic field.

Thermal production rate exceeds that of pointlike monopoles below the critical field.

Results are relevant for monopole production in heavy-ion collisions and the early Universe.

Abstract

We show that in the SU(2) Georgi-Glashow model, 't Hooft-Polyakov monopoles are produced by a classical instability in magnetic fields above the Ambjorn-Olesen critical field, which coincides approximately with the field at which Schwinger pair production becomes unsuppressed. Below it, monopoles can be produced thermally, and we show that the rate is higher than for pointlike monopoles by calculating the sphaleron energy as a function of the magnetic field. The results can be applied to production of monopoles in heavy-ion collisions or in the early Universe.