Magnetic monopoles produced by first-order phase transition

Abstract

We present the first 3D lattice simulations of magnetic monopole production from a first-order phase transition, using the Press-Ryden-Spergel method, capturing the subsequent annihilation stage and the entry into the scaling regime in an expanding universe. We establish the quantitative relationship between the initial bubble number and the residual monopole abundance, and calculate the magnetic field and gravitational wave power spectra sourced by monopole dynamics. Crucially, we find that the magnetic field spectrum displays a steep $k^{-5}$ decline beyond the monopole size $w_M$, whereas the peak of the gravitational wave spectrum aligns with the scale of the mean monopole separation $d_M$, governed by $k^3$ and $k^{-3}$ scalings on the low- and high-wavenumber sides of the peak, respectively. However, since the resulting magnetic field strength is excluded by blazar observations, magnetic monopoles cannot be the origin of primordial cosmic magnetic fields. Finally, we determine the allowed monopole mass under the constraints of the Parker bound ($m_M\lesssim 2.18\times 10^{11}\mathrm{GeV}$) and dark matter abundance ($m_M\lesssim 1.58\times 10^{12}\mathrm{GeV}$).

arXiv comment9+6 pages, 5+4 figures