Is there a local source of magnetic monopoles?

Abstract

Cabrera¹ has reported the possible detection of a magnetic monopole in flight with magnetic charge g given by the Dirac condition² 2eg = hc. Here, we accept the Cabrera candidate as a t'Hooft–Polyakov^3,4 monopole of mass M ∼ 10¹⁶ GeV as expected⁵ in SU(5) or other grand unified theories. The monopole flux on Earth, on the basis of the single candidate, is f∼(0.1) cm⁻² yr⁻¹ (2πsr)⁻¹, presumably consisting of roughly equal numbers of north and south monopoles. Galactic or intergalactic monopoles will have typical velocities of ∼300 km s⁻¹. The Cabrera flux would correspond to a mass density f M/v ∼1 GeV cm⁻³. Because the mean mass density of the Universe cannot exceed 10⁻⁵ GeV cm⁻³, the mean flux of monopoles in the Universe must be at least five orders of magnitude smaller than f (refs 6,7). This would not be a problem if the monopoles were concentrated in the Galaxy. However, Parker has shown⁸ that the existence of galactic magnetic fields is inconsistent with a mean galactic monopole flux of 10⁻⁷ cm⁻² yr⁻¹. It follows that f must be a local flux resulting from the special nature of the observation site. Three possibilities come to mind: the local monopole flux may be associated with the Earth, the Sun, or with the Solar System as a whole.