Search for magnetic monopoles and stable particles with high electric charges in $\sqrt{s}=$13 TeV $pp$ collisions with the ATLAS detector

TL;DR

This paper reports a search for magnetic monopoles and highly charged particles in 13 TeV proton-proton collisions using the ATLAS detector, setting new upper limits on their production cross-sections and exploring different production mechanisms.

Contribution

It provides the first ATLAS limits on photon-fusion production of magnetic monopoles and high-electric-charge particles, improving existing cross-section limits by a factor of three.

Findings

No candidate highly ionizing particles observed.

Set new upper limits on production cross-sections for monopoles and high-charge particles.

First ATLAS limits on photon-fusion production mechanism.

Abstract

We present a search for magnetic monopoles and high-electric-charge objects using LHC Run 2 $\sqrt{s} =$13 TeV proton$-$proton collisions recorded by the ATLAS detector. A total integrated luminosity of 138 fb$^{-1}$ was collected by a specialized trigger. No highly ionizing particle candidate was observed. Considering the Drell-Yan and photon-fusion pair production mechanisms as benchmark models, cross-section upper limits are presented for spin-0 and spin-$\frac{1}{2}$ magnetic monopoles of magnetic charge $1g_\textrm{D}$ and $2g_\textrm{D}$ and for high-electric-charge objects of electric charge $20 \leq |z| \leq 100$, for masses between 200 GeV and 4000 GeV. The search improves by approximately a factor of three the previous cross-section limits on the Drell-Yan production of magnetic monopoles and high-electric charge objects. Also, the first ATLAS limits on the photon-fusion pair production mechanism of magnetic monopoles and high-electric-charge objects have been obtained.