Physics Theory Seminar with Nicolas Orlofsky on Magnetic Black Holes

Magnetic monopoles are an interesting theoretical possibility that would explain the quantization of electric charge. Searches for such monopoles have so far found no evidence for their existence. It is possible that monopoles may be bound within other physical systems. I will discuss two such possibilities. The first is the magnetically charged black hole. Such black holes may possess a "hairy" electroweak-symmetric corona outside the event horizon, which speeds up their Hawking radiation and leads them to become nearly extremal on short timescales. Their masses could range from the Planck scale up to the Earth mass. I will present various methods to search for primordially produced magnetic black holes and provide estimated upper limits on their abundance. The second is the magnetically charged Q-ball. I will show how such Q-balls can take on a variety of masses and magnetic charges, and even account for all of dark matter.

Zoom link available upon request at physics@wustl.edu.
Post-docs and students' Q&A with the speaker starts at 2:15 pm. Contact Garrett King for the Q&A Zoom link.