Monopole-antimonopole: interaction, scattering and creation

Abstract

The interaction of a magnetic monopole-antimonopole pair depends on their separation as well as on a second "twist" degree of freedom. This novel interaction leads to a non-trivial bound state solution known as a sphaleron and to scattering in which the monopole-antimonopole bounce off each other and do not annihilate. The twist degree of freedom also plays a role in numerical experiments in which gauge waves collide and create monopole-antimonopole pairs. Similar gauge wavepacket scatterings in the Abelian-Higgs model lead to the production of string loops that may be relevant to superconductors. Ongoing numerical experiments to study the production of electroweak sphalerons that result in changes in the Chern-Simons number, and hence baryon number, are also described but have not yet met with success.

arXiv comment12 pages, 9 figures. Contribution to the Royal Society meeting on "Topological Avatars of New Physics", 4-5 March, 2019

References in corpus (8)

• Big bang simulation in superfluid 3He-B -- Vortex nucleation in neutron-irradiated superflow
• Semilocal and Electroweak Strings
• Electroweak String Configurations with Baryon Number
• Creation of Magnetic Monopoles in Classical Scattering
• Monopole-antimonopole Interaction Potential
• Monopole-Antimonopole Scattering
• Monopole-antimonopole: interaction, scattering and creation
• String Production in the Abelian Higgs Vacuum

Cited by in corpus (3)

• String monopoles, string walls, vortex-skyrmions and nexus objects in polar distorted B-phase of ${}^3$He
• One dimensional nexus objects, network of Kibble-Lazarides-Shafi string walls, and their spin dynamic response in polar distorted B-phase of ${}^3$He
• Monopole-antimonopole: interaction, scattering and creation