Speaker: Prof. Mikhail Medvedev, University of Kansas
Abstract: Existing theoretical and observational constraints on the abundance of magnetic monopoles are limited. In this talk, we will demonstrate that an ensemble of monopoles forms a plasma whose properties are well determined. The collective effects -- the benchmark of an electromagnetic plasma -- place new tight constraints on the cosmological abundance of monopoles. In particular, the existence of micro-Gauss magnetic fields in galaxy clusters and radio relics implies that the cosmological density parameter of monopoles is well below unity, which precludes them from being the dark matter. Furthermore, we will discuss that the monopole plasma may reveal itself on the sky as "zebra patterns" of an alternating magnetic field and may even be responsible for origin of the observed magnetic fields in galaxy clusters.