2023/06/22 by Maximilian Bachmaier, Gia Dvali, Bachmaier, Maximilian +3 · 2 citations
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · Physics and Astronomy · #Cosmology and Gravitation Theories #FOS: Physical sciences #General Relativity and Quantum Cosmology (gr-qc) #Geomagnetism and Paleomagnetism Studies #High Energy Physics - Lattice (hep-lat) #High Energy Physics - Phenomenology (hep-ph) #High Energy Physics - Theory (hep-th) #Scientific Research and Discoveries
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2306.12958
openalex publication_date 2023/06/22 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
We study the interactions between 't Hooft-Polyakov magnetic monopoles and the domain walls formed by the same order parameter within an SU(2) gauge theory. We observe that the collision leads to the erasure of the magnetic monopoles, as suggested by Dvali, Liu, and Vachaspati. The domain wall represents a layer of vacuum with un-Higgsed SU(2) gauge symmetry. When the monopole enters the wall, it unwinds, and the magnetic charge spreads over the wall. We perform numerical simulations of the collision process and in particular analyze the angular distribution of the emitted electromagnetic radiation. As in the previous studies, we observe that erasure always occurs. Although not forbidden by any conservation laws, the monopole never passes through the wall. This is explained by entropy suppression. The erasure phenomenon has important implications for cosmology, as it sheds a very different light on the monopole abundance in post-inflationary phase transitions and provides potentially observable imprints in the form of electromagnetic and gravitational radiation. The phenomenon also sheds light on fundamental aspects of gauge theories with coexisting phases, such as confining and Higgs phases. Additionally to the figures, the results of the numerical simulations can be found in the following video: https://youtu.be/JZaXUYikQbo