Search for GUT Monopoles at Super-Kamiokande


Abstract in English

GUT monopoles captured by the Suns gravitation are expected to catalyze proton decays via the Callan-Rubakov process. In this scenario, protons, which initially decay into pions, will ultimately produce u_{e}, u_{mu} and bar{ u}_{mu}. After undergoing neutrino oscillation, all neutrino species appear when they arrive at the Earth, and can be detected by a 50,000 metric ton water Cherenkov detector, Super-Kamiokande (SK). A search for low energy neutrinos in the electron total energy range from 19 to 55 MeV was carried out with SK and gives a monopole flux limit of F_M(sigma_0/1 mb) < 6.3 times 10^{-24} (beta_M/10^{-3})^2 cm^{-2} s^{-1} sr^{-1} at 90% C.L., where beta_M is the monopole velocity in units of the speed of light and sigma_0 is the catalysis cross section at beta_M=1. The obtained limit is more than eight orders of magnitude more stringent than the current best cosmic-ray supermassive monopole flux limit, F_M < 1 times 10^{-15} cm^{-2} s^{-1} sr^{-1} for beta_M < 10^{-3} and also two orders of magnitude lower than the result of the Kamiokande experiment, which used a similar detection method.

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