Monopole-Antimonopole Pair Production in Primordial Magnetic Fields

Understand

We show that monopoles can be pair produced by cosmological magnetic fields in the early universe.

• The pair production gives rise to relic monopoles, and at the same time induces a self-screening of the magnetic fields.
• By studying these effects we derive limits on the monopole mass, and also on the initial amplitude of primordial magnetic fields.
• Monopoles of GUT scale mass can even be produced if primordial magnetic fields exist at sufficiently high redshifts.