On the issue of magnetic monopoles in the prospect of UHE photon searches

Abstract

(also inside: this manuscript introduces the reader to the argument against the existence of magnetic monopoles, which forms an essential part of Staruszkiewicz's Quantum Mechanics of the Electric Charge) Ultra-high energy (UHE) photons with energies exceeding $10^{18}\eV$ can potentially be observed. They are produced in various processes involving electrically charged particles. However, more exotic scenarios are also possible. UHE photons could be emitted in encounters of massive magnetically charged monopole--antimonopole pairs or in processes associated with monopoles accelerated to high energies, typically $10^{21}\eV$ or beyond. Observing UHE photons can pose constraints on the properties of magnetic monopoles. There are compelling theoretical reasons in favor of the presence of magnetic monopoles in nature. The predicted observational signatures of these particles are therefore searched for in dedicated experiments currently in operation. Despite these attempts, magnetic monopoles have yet to be empirically proved. There are also theoretical reasons why magnetic monopoles allowed by Dirac's theory might not be realized in nature in the form of isolated particles. Detection or non-detection of UHE photon signatures of magnetic monopoles would bring us closer to solving this fascinating puzzle.