Electron-positron annihilation into Dirac magnetic monopole and antimonopole: the string ambiguity and the discrete symmetries

Abstract

We address the problem of string arbitrariness in the quantum field theory of Dirac magnetic monopoles. Different prescriptions are shown to yield different physical results. The constraints due to the discrete symmetries (C and P) are derived for the process of electron- positron annihilation into the monopole-antimonopole pair. In the case of the annihilation through the one-photon channel, the production of spin 0 monopoles is absolutely forbidden; spin 1/2 monopole and antimonopole should have the same helicities (or, equivalently, the monopole-antimonopole state should be p-wave $^1P_1$).