School of Physics and Astronomy, Seoul National University, Seoul 08826, Korea.
Center for Quantum Spacetime, Sogang University, Seoul, 04107, Korea.
Philos Trans A Math Phys Eng Sci. 2019 Dec 30;377(2161):20190038. doi: 10.1098/rsta.2019.0038. Epub 2019 Nov 11.
The electroweak monopole in the standard model, the existence, characteristic features, cosmological production and physical implications are discussed. The discovery of the Higgs particle has been thought to be the 'final' test of the standard model. If the standard model is correct, however, it must have the electroweak monopole as the electroweak generalization of the Dirac monopole. This means that the detection of this monopole should become the final and topological test of the standard model. If detected, it becomes the first magnetically charged and stable topological elementary particle in the history of physics. Moreover, it has deep implications in physics. In cosmology, it could generate the primordial magnetic black holes which could explain the dark matter, become the seed of the large-scale structures of the universe, and be the source of the intergalactic magnetic field. Just as importantly, it could generate the hitherto unknown magnetic current which could have huge practical applications. Furthermore, the existence of the monopole requires us to reformulate the perturbative expansion in quantum field theory. This makes the detection of the electroweak monopole a most urgent issue. We discuss useful tips for the MoEDAL detector at LHC and similar experiments on how to detect the monopole successfully. This article is part of a discussion meeting issue 'Topological avatars of new physics'.
标准模型中的电弱单极子，其存在、特征、宇宙学产生和物理意义进行了讨论。希格斯粒子的发现被认为是标准模型的“最终”检验。然而，如果标准模型是正确的，那么它必须有电弱单极子作为狄拉克单极子的电弱推广。这意味着这种单极子的检测应该成为标准模型的最终和拓扑检验。如果被检测到，它将成为物理学史上第一个磁荷稳定的拓扑基本粒子。此外，它在物理学中有深远的意义。在宇宙学中，它可以产生原始磁黑洞，从而解释暗物质，成为宇宙大尺度结构的种子，并成为星系际磁场的来源。同样重要的是，它可以产生迄今未知的磁流，具有巨大的实际应用价值。此外，单极子的存在要求我们重新表述量子场论中的微扰展开。这使得电弱单极子的探测成为最紧迫的问题。我们讨论了 LHC 上的 MoEDAL 探测器和类似实验成功探测单极子的有用技巧。本文是讨论会议议题“新物理的拓扑化身”的一部分。
