English

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

High Energy Physics - Theory 2020-03-11 v3 High Energy Physics - Lattice High Energy Physics - Phenomenology

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.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.1911.06088,
  title  = {Classical production of 't Hooft-Polyakov monopoles from magnetic fields},
  author = {David L. -J. Ho and Arttu Rajantie},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1911.06088},
  year   = {2020}
}

Comments

5 pages, 3 figures; updated to match published version