The physics programme of the MoEDAL experiment at the LHC

Abstract

† Deceased. We dedicate this paper to Giorgio's memory. We will strive to make this experiment a great success and a tribute to his memory. He will be sorely missed. AbstractThe MoEDAL experiment at Point 8 of the LHC ring is the seventh and newest LHC experiment. It is dedicated to the search for highly ionizing particle avatars of physics beyond the Standard Model, extending significantly the discovery horizon of the LHC. A MoEDAL discovery would have revolutionary implications for our fundamental understanding of the Microcosm. MoEDAL is an unconventional and largely passive LHC detector comprised of the largest array of Nuclear Track Detector stacks ever deployed at an accelerator, surrounding the intersection region at Point 8 on the LHC ring. Another novel feature is the use of paramagnetic trapping volumes to capture both electrically and magnetically charged highly-ionizing particles predicted in new physics scenarios. It includes an array of TimePix pixel devices for monitoring highly-ionizing particle backgrounds. The main passive elements of the MoEDAL detector do not require a trigger system, electronic readout, or online computerized data acquisition. The aim of this paper is to give an overview of the MoEDAL physics reach, which is largely complementary to the programs of the large multi-purpose LHC detectors ATLAS and CMS. project grant; the V-P Research Notes 1 Defined to be a convolution of the efficiency and acceptance 2 The concept of Dirac (magnetic) charge is presented in Section 5. 3 If |n| = 1, this is only true for magnetic charge coupled to 2 H(S = 1, |q| = 1/2), 8 Li(S = 2, |q| = 3/2) and 10 B(S = 3, |q| = 5/2). 4 The reader should notice that the two-loop processes of Fig. 28(b), which couple the IC gluons to the fermionic SM sector suffer, in addition to the loop suppression, an additional helicity suppression, as compared to the diagram of Fig, 28(a), and are therefore non-leading contributions.

Production of magnetic monopoles and monopolium in peripheral collisions

“…Unfortunately, the predicted mass is very large and, until now the several experimental searches not confirm his existence, only experimental limits on his mass and charge. Recently, the MOEDAL [10], a dedicated experiment on highly ionizating exotic particles is set on LHC and announces his first results [11,12].…”

Magnetic monopole search with the MoEDAL test trapping detector

“…The primary objectives of MoEDAL is to directly search for the Magnetic Monopole or Dyon and other highly ionising Stable (or meta-stable) Massive Particles (SMPs) at the LHC [25]. Deployed around the LHCb experiment's Vertex Locator (VELO) cavern, it is a unique and largely passive LHC detector that comprises four sub-detector systems.…”

Searches for magnetic monopoles and beyond with MoEDAL at the LHC

“…There are various theoretical scenarios in which magnetic charge would be produced at the LHC [6]: (light) 't Hooft-Polyakov monopoles [9,11], electroweak monopoles [12][13][14], global monopoles [15][16][17][18] and monopolium [8,[19][20][21]. Magnetic monopoles that carry a non-zero magnetic charge and dyons possessing both magnetic and electric charge are among the most fascinating hypothetical particles.…”

“…In addition, the experiment is designed to search for any massive, stable or long-lived, slow-moving particle [5] with single or multiple electric charges that arise in various scenarios of physics beyond the Standard Model (SM). For an extended and detailed account of the MoEDAL discovery potential, the reader is referred to the MoEDAL Physics Review [6]. Emphasis is given here on recent MoEDAL results, based on the exposure of magnetic monopole trapping volumes to 8 TeV proton-proton collisions during Run 1 and 13 TeV collisions during Run 2.…”