Monopoles From an Atmospheric Fixed Target Experiment

TL;DR

This paper investigates the production of magnetic monopoles from cosmic ray collisions with Earth's atmosphere, providing new limits on monopole flux and production in the 5-100 TeV mass range, independent of cosmological assumptions.

Contribution

It is the first detailed analysis of atmospheric monopole production, establishing a new baseline for monopole flux and comparing terrestrial and collider search limits.

Findings

Sets leading limits on monopole production in the 5-100 TeV mass range.

Identifies atmospheric monopole flux as an irreducible background for terrestrial experiments.

Provides systematic comparison between atmospheric, collider, and previous monopole searches.

Abstract

Magnetic monopoles have a long history of theoretical predictions and experimental searches, carrying direct implications for fundamental concepts such as electric charge quantization. We analyze in detail for the first time magnetic monopole production from collisions of cosmic rays bombarding the atmosphere. This source of monopoles is independent of cosmology, has been active throughout Earth's history, and supplies an irreducible monopole flux for all terrestrial experiments. Using results for robust atmospheric fixed target experiment flux of monopoles, we systematically establish direct comparisons of previous ambient monopole searches with monopole searches at particle colliders and set leading limits on magnetic monopole production in the $\sim 5-100$ TeV mass-range.