Search for ultrarelativistic magnetic monopoles with the Pierre Auger observatory

THE PIERRE AUGER COLLABORATION (471 AUTHORS IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER); GARCIA, B

PHYSICAL REVIEW D

AMER PHYSICAL SOC

Lugar: New York; Año: 2016 vol. 94 p. 1 - 12

1550-7998

P { margin-bottom: 0.21cm; }Wepresent a search for ultrarelativistic magnetic monopoles with thePierre Auger observatory. Such particles, possibly a relic of phasetransitions in the early Universe, would deposit a large amount ofenergy alongtheir path through the atmosphere, comparable to that ofultrahigh-energy cosmic rays (UHECRs).Theair-shower profile of a magnetic monopole can be effectivelydistinguished by the fluorescence detectorfrom that of standard UHECRs. No candidate was found in the datacollected between 2004 and 2012,with an expected background of less than 0.1 event from UHECRs. Thecorresponding 90%confidence level (C.L.) upper limits on the flux of ultrarelativisticmagnetic monopoles range from 10−19(cm2srs)−1fora Lorentz factor γ=109to2.5×10−21(cm2srs)-1forγ=1012.These results?the firstobtained with a UHECR detector?improvepreviously published limits by up to an order of magnitude