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

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.; D. L. -J., Ho; 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.

doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.133.071803

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.

Acharya, B., Alexandre, J., Behera, S.C., Benes, P., Bergmann, B., Bertolucci, S., et al. (2024). MoEDAL Search in the CMS Beam Pipe for Magnetic Monopoles Produced via the Schwinger Effect. PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS, 133(7), 1-7 [10.1103/PhysRevLett.133.071803].