Posts Tagged ‘MAGNETIC MONOPOLES’
Introduction to Magnetic Monopoles
A 't Hooft-Polyakov monopole conguration in a lattice eld theory simulation. This
gure was produced using VAPOR
Arttu Rajantie
One of the most basic properties of magnetism is that a magnet always has two poles, north and south, which cannot be separated into isolated poles, i.e., magnetic monopoles. However, there are strong theoretical arguments why magnetic monopoles should exist. In spite of extensive searches they have not been found, but they have nevertheless played a central role in our understanding of physics at the most fundamental level…..
Read more: http://arxiv.org/pdf/1204.3077v1.pdf
Search for Relativistic Magnetic Monopoles with the ANTARES Neutrino Telescope
The ANTARES 90 % C.L. upper limit on an upgoing magnetic monopole flux for relativistic velocities 0.625 ≤ β ≤ 0.995 obtained in this analysis, compared to the theoretical Parker bound , the published upper limits obtained by MACRO for an isotropic flux of monopoles as well as the upper limits from Baikal and AMANDA for upgoing monopoles
Magnetic monopoles are predicted in various unified gauge models and could be produced at intermediate mass scales. Their detection in a neutrino telescope is facilitated by the large amount of light emitted compared to that from muons. This paper reports on a search for upgoing relativistic magnetic monopoles with the ANTARES neutrino telescope using a data set of 116 days of live time taken from December 2007 to December 2008. The one observed event is consistent with the expected atmospheric neutrino and muon background, leading to a 90% C.L. upper limit on the monopole flux between 1.3E-17 and 8.9E-17 cm-2.s-1.sr-1 for monopoles with velocity beta greater than 0.625…..
Read more: http://arxiv.org/PS_cache/arxiv/pdf/1110/1110.2656v1.pdf
Rewriting the textbooks: When science gets it wrong
THE business of gaining understanding of the world about us rarely follows a simple path from A to B. False starts, dead ends and U-turns are part of the journey. Science’s ability to accept those setbacks with aplomb – to say “we got it wrong”, to modify and abandon cherished notions and find new ideas and explanations that better fit the emerging facts – is what gives it incomparable power to make sense of our surroundings.
It also means we must be constantly on our toes. While revolutionary new ideas such as evolution by natural selection, or quantum physics, are once-in-a-generation occurrences, the sands of science are continually shifting in less dramatic ways. In the following, we focus on nine recent examples – a tweak of a definition here, a breaking or weakening of a once cast-iron concept there – that together form a snapshot of that process in action….. Read the rest of this entry »
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