Monopole-antimonopole scattering

Tanmay Vachaspati
Phys. Rev. D 93, 045008 – Published 5 February 2016

Abstract

We numerically study the head-on scattering of a ’t Hooft-Polyakov magnetic monopole and antimonopole for a wide range of parameters. In contrast to the scattering of a λϕ4 kink and antikink in 1+1 dimensions, we find that the monopole and antimonopole annihilate even when scattered at relativistic velocities. If the monopole and antimonopole have a relative twist, there is a repulsive force between them and they can initially be reflected. However, in every case we have examined, the reflected monopoles remain bound and eventually annihilate. We also calculate the magnetic helicity in the aftermath of monopole-antimonopole annihilation and confirm the conversion of relative twist to magnetic helicity as discussed earlier in the electroweak case.

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  • Received 28 November 2015

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.93.045008

© 2016 American Physical Society

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Particles & Fields

Authors & Affiliations

Tanmay Vachaspati

  • Physics Department, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona 85287, USA

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Issue

Vol. 93, Iss. 4 — 15 February 2016

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