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Forestman
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Could monopoles ever be created in particle accelerators?
Could monopoles ever be created in particle accelerators?
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In summary, the existence of monopoles is a topic of debate in the scientific community. While some believe they were created in the big bang, others do not think they can be created in particle accelerators. Monopoles are often studied in the context of grand unified theories and other theoretical frameworks. Their possible existence has implications for charge quantization and has been a subject of interest in the scientific process. While there is no definitive answer, many HEP theorists believe in their existence and they have a wide range of possible manifestations in different theories. The concept of monopoles also offers a beautiful and elegant explanation for certain phenomena in quantum theory.
- #2
tiny-tim
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Forestman said:
mmm … nobody else has replied, so I'll have a go
…I don't think anybody believes that any monopoles were even created in the big bang, so … no, not by us
- #3
JustinLevy
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Plenty of people believe monopoles were created in the big bang!
However these are often features of GUTs so it is not expected to see them created in particle accelerators.
Also, since the existence of magnetic monopoles gives us charge quantization (which we do see of course), there are theoretical niceties they provide. There's also the famed "valentine monopole", where a monopole search saw one. It is always an interesting topic for discussing the scientific process, since if something is really rare ... how many do you need to see before you believe they exist? The layman will usually say one. The scientist of course wants more :)
- #4
Naty1
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That's putting the cart before the horse...the real issue is whether magnetic monopoles exist or even could exist...then we can dither endlessly about necessary and sufficient initial experimental conditions to produce and possibly detect them.
Wiki has some insights, no definitive answer of course because none exists, at
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetic_monopole.
- #5
Haelfix
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The immense majority of HEP theorists believe in their existence in one guise or another. They show up ubiquitously in GUTs, topological theories, various field theories, as well as in nonperturbative physics and quantum gravity.
So while you can contrive scenarios where they don't appear, let's just say they have a huge parameter space of possible places to come out off. The added bonus is they explain charge quantization in a really simple and elegant way and are a beautiful exposition of geometry in quantum theory.
1. What are monopoles and why are they important in particle physics?
Monopoles are hypothetical particles with only one magnetic pole, unlike traditional magnets which have both a north and south pole. They are important in particle physics because their existence would provide a unification of electricity and magnetism, which are currently described by separate theories.
2. Can monopoles be created in particle accelerators?
While monopoles have not yet been created in particle accelerators, there is ongoing research and experimentation to try to produce them. Some theories suggest that they may be created at high enough energies, but this has not been confirmed.
3. Why is it difficult to create monopoles in particle accelerators?
One of the main challenges in creating monopoles in particle accelerators is that they are predicted to have very high masses, meaning that a lot of energy would be needed to produce them. Additionally, they may have very short lifetimes, making it difficult to detect them before they decay.
4. What are some possible ways that monopoles could be detected in particle accelerators?
Scientists have proposed several methods for detecting monopoles in particle accelerators, including looking for their effects on other particles, such as changes in their trajectories or the production of new particles. Some experiments also involve searching for traces of magnetic monopoles in cosmic rays.
5. Are there any other ways that monopoles could be created besides in particle accelerators?
In addition to particle accelerators, some theories suggest that monopoles could have been created in the early universe during the Big Bang. There is also ongoing research into the possibility of creating monopoles in high-energy cosmic ray collisions or through the decay of other particles.
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