On the compatibility of observable grand unified monopole fluxes and neutron stars

Keith A. Olive, David N. Schramm

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

We consider the possibility that the constraints on grand unified monopole fluxes derived from limits on the X-ray background due to hot neutron stars, contain a window in the range 10-15 {less-than or approximate} Fσ0 {less-than or approximate} 10-13 cm-2 s-1 s-1. The appearance of this window is due primarily to three effects: (1) neutron stars with large numbers of monopoles catalyzing baryon decay in their interiors are mainly producing neutrinos rather than photons; (2) the photons radiated are hard X-rays or γ-rays in which the background limits are slightly less restrictive, and (3) the lifetime of the neutron star is drastically reduced through disintegration (i.e., all the nucleons in the star will have been processed by monopoles). All of the arguments are sensitive to the equation of state inside the neutron star, leading to uncertainties which should not dissuade experimenters from monopole searches.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)267-272
Number of pages6
JournalPhysics Letters B
Volume130
Issue number5
DOIs
StatePublished - Oct 27 1983

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
We would like to thankJ . Ellis and J. Grindleyf or usefuld iscussionsO.n e of us (D.N.S.) would like to ac-knowledgeth eh ospitalitoy f CERN and FNAL. This work was supporteidn part by NSF and DOE at the Universityo f Chicago.

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