The formulation of Grand Unified Theories, which allow magnetic monopole-like solutions [1], has stimulated a wide interest in the search of magnetic monopoles and recently evidence has been claimed of their detection [2]. In view of planning further efforts to confirm the existence of magnetic monopoles, it is useful to know the behaviour of these particles when they reach Earth. With this pur...

“At the present time (1975) there is no experimental evidence for the existence of magnetic charges or monopoles, but chiefly because of an early, brilliant theoretical argument by Dirac, the search for monopoles is renewed whenever a new energy region is opened up in high energy physics or a new source of matter, such as rocks from the moon, becomes available [1]. ” Dirac argued that a monopol...

We present a bibliography compilation on magnetic monopoles updated to include references till the end of year 1999. It is intended to contain nearly all the experimental papers on the subject and only the theoretical papers which have some specific experimental implications.

“At the present time (1975) there is no experimental evidence for the existence of magnetic charges or monopoles, but chiefly because of an early, brilliant theoretical argument by Dirac, the search for monopoles is renewed whenever a new energy region is opened up in high energy physics or a new source of matter, such as rocks from the moon, becomes available [1].” Dirac argued that a monopole...

While it certainly happened later than the observation of stars, the observation of electricity and magnetism began far in Antiquity, due to Greece and China. Some 600 years B.C., Thales noticed the faculty of amber to attract light bodies when rubbed with a cat skin. But the Greeks also knew about magnets, whose name is magnes in Greek. And thus, since amber is called elektron, they left us no...

It is proven that if more than a single magnetic charge exists it is impossible to define a proper quantum mechanical angular momentum operator for an electrically charged particle in the field of the magnetic charges. Assuming that quantum mechanics is correct we conclude that free magnetic charges (i.e. magnetic charges with a Coulomb-like magnetic field) can not exist. The only apparent way ...

Recently evidence appeared that instantons and monopoles have a certain local correlation in four-dimensional pure SU (2) and SU (3) gauge theory. We visualize several specific gauge field configurations and show directly that there is an enhanced probability for finding maximally projected abelian monopole loops in the vicinity of instantons. This feature is independent of the topological char...

The Dirac monopole problem is studied in details within the framework of infinite-dimensional representations of the rotation group, and a consistent pointlike monopole theory with an arbitrary magnetic charge is deduced.

We discuss monopole core metastability in Alice electrodynamics. It is argued that in some part of the parameter space the spherically symmetric magnetic monopole is no longer the lowest energy configuration carrying a magnetic charge, and that a point monopole may well decay into an Alice loop carrying magnetic Cheshire charge. In view of an expected electric-magnetic duality, similar implicat...