Monopole annihilation at the electroweak scale---Not!

Abstract

We examine the issue of monopole annihilation at the electroweak scale induced by flux tube confinement, concentrating first on the simplest possibility---one which requires no new physics beyond the standard model. Monopoles existing at the time of the electroweak phase transition may trigger $W$ condensation which can confine magnetic flux into flux tubes. However we show on very general grounds, using several independent estimates, that such a mechanism is impotent. We then present several general dynamical arguments constraining the possibility of monopole annihilation through any confining phase near the electroweak scale.