Particle Physics Seminar: The Electric-Magnetic S-matrix and Monopole Catalysis

Abstract:

We present the first construction of the S-matrix for the scattering of monopoles, dyons, and charges. The multiparticle states involving mutually-non-local particles turn out to be entangled, in the sense that they are not tensor products of single-particle states. This reflects the well-known fact that the electromagnetic field sourced by pairs of monopoles and charges carries extra angular momentum, even asymptotically. The corresponding S-matrix transforms with an extra "pairwise little group" phase and an associated "pairwise helicity", reflecting the modified angular momentum selection rules for charges and monopoles. We apply our S-matrix construction to derive all monopole 3-point functions, generate monopole spherical harmonics, and address the notoriously confusing effect of Monopole Catalysis. In particular, we provide an on-shell derivation of the Callan-Rubakov effect, and propose a possible solution for the famous “monopole unitarity paradox

Seminar Organizers: Dr. Michael Geller & Dr. Adi Ashkanzi