MoEDAL Search in the CMS Beam Pipe for Magnetic Monopoles Produced via the Schwinger Effect.

• DOI: 10.48550/arxiv.2402.15682
• Publication Date: 2024-08-15
• Authors: Acharya B.; Alexandre J.; Behera S. C.; Benes P.; Bergmann B.; Bertolucci S.; Bevan A.; Brancaccio R.; Branzas H.; Burian P.; Campbell M.; Cecchini S.; Cho Y. M.; De Montigny M.; De Roeck A.; Ellis J. R.; Fairbairn M.; Felea D.; Frank M.; Gould O.; Hays J.; Hirt A. M.; Ho D. L. -J.; Hung P. Q.; Janecek J.; Kalliokoski M.; Lacarrere D. H.; Leroy C.; Levi G.; Margiotta A.; Maselek R.; Maulik A.; Mauri N.; Mavromatos N. E.; Millward L.; Mitsou V. A.; Musumeci E.; Ostrovskiy I.; Ouimet P. -P.; Papavassiliou J.; Patrizii L.; Pavalas G. E.; Pinfold J. L.; Popa L. A.; Popa V.; Pozzato M.; Pospisil S.; Rajantie A.; Ruiz De Austri R.; Sahnoun Z.; Sakellariadou M.; Sakurai K.; Sarkar S.; Semenoff G.; Shaa A.; Sirri G.; Sliwa K.; Soluk R.; Spurio M.; Staelens M.; Suk M.; Tenti M.; Togo V.; Tuszynski J. A.; Upreti A.; Vento V.; Vives O.
• Keywords: hep-ex; FOS: Physical sciences; Beam pipe; Center-of-mass energies; Centre-of-mass energies; Exposed to; Interaction region; Magnetic charges; Magnetic monopoles; Pb-Pb collisions; SQUID magnetometers; Ultra-high magnetic fields; nucl-ex; 530; 01 natural sciences; High Energy Physics - Experiment; High Energy Physics - Experiment (hep-ex); MOeDAL, Magnetic monopoles, LHC; 0103 physical sciences; Nuclear Experiment (nucl-ex); Nuclear Experiment

We report on a search for magnetic monopoles (MMs) produced in ultraperipheral Pb-Pb collisions during Run 1 of the LHC. The beam pipe surrounding the interaction region of the CMS experiment was exposed to 184.07 μb−1 of Pb-Pb collisions at 2.76 TeV center-of-mass energy per collision in December 2011, before being removed in 2013. It was scanned by the MoEDAL experiment using a SQUID magnetometer to search for trapped MMs. No MM signal was observed. The two distinctive features of this search are the use of a trapping volume very close to the collision point and ultrahigh magnetic fields generated during the heavy-ion run that could produce MMs via the Schwinger effect. These two advantages allowed setting the first reliable, world-leading mass limits on MMs with high magnetic charge. In particular, the established limits are the strongest available in the range between 2 and 45 Dirac units, excluding MMs with masses of up to 80 GeV at a 95% confidence level. Published by the American Physical Society 2024