2014/02/28 by IceCube Collaboration, M. G. Aartsen, R. Abbasi +288 · 1 citation
Physics and Astronomy · #astro-ph.CO #astro-ph.HE
paper · pdf · doi:10.1140/epjc/s10052-014-2938-8
published as Eur.Phys.J. C74:2938,2014 · 20 pages, 20 figures
arxiv created 2014/06/11 · arxiv updated 2016/02/23
The IceCube Neutrino Observatory is a large Cherenkov detector instrumenting 1 km3 of Antarctic ice. The detector can be used to search for signatures of particle physics beyond the Standard Model. Here, we describe the search for non-relativistic, magnetic monopoles as remnants of the GUT (Grand Unified Theory) era shortly after the Big Bang. These monopoles may catalyze the decay of nucleons via the Rubakov-Callan effect with a cross section suggested to be in the range of 10-27 cm2 to 10-21 cm2. In IceCube, the Cherenkov light from nucleon decays along the monopole trajectory would produce a characteristic hit pattern. This paper presents the results of an analysis of first data taken from May 2011 until May 2012 with a dedicated slow-particle trigger for DeepCore, a subdetector of IceCube. A second analysis provides better sensitivity for the brightest non-relativistic monopoles using data taken from May 2009 until May 2010. In both analyses no monopole signal was observed. For catalysis cross sections of 10-22 (10-24) cm2 the flux of non-relativistic GUT monopoles is constrained up to a level of Φ90 ≤ 10-18 (10-17) \mathrmcm-2s-1sr-1 at a 90% confidence level, which is three orders of magnitude below the Parker bound. The limits assume a dominant decay of the proton into a positron and a neutral pion. These results improve the current best experimental limits by one to two orders of magnitude, for a wide range of assumed speeds and catalysis cross sections.