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Search for relativistic magnetic monopoles with the AMANDA-II neutrino telescope: The IceCube Collaboration

  • R. Abbasi
  • , Y. Abdou
  • , T. Abu-Zayyad
  • , J. Adams
  • , J. A. Aguilar
  • , M. Ahlers
  • , K. Andeen
  • , J. Auffenberg
  • , X. Bai
  • , M. Baker
  • , S. W. Barwick
  • , R. Bay
  • , J. L. Bazo Alba
  • , K. Beattie
  • , J. J. Beatty
  • , S. Bechet
  • , J. K. Becker
  • , K. H. Becker
  • , M. L. Benabderrahmane
  • , S. BenZvi
  • J. Berdermann, P. Berghaus, D. Berley, E. Bernardini, D. Bertrand, D. Z. Besson, M. Bissok, E. Blaufuss, D. J. Boersma, C. Bohm, S. Böser, O. Botner, L. Bradley, J. Braun, S. Buitink, M. Carson, D. Chirkin, B. Christy, J. Clem, F. Clevermann, S. Cohen, C. Colnard, D. F. Cowen, M. V. D'Agostino, M. Danninger, J. C. Davis, C. de Clercq, L. Demirörs, O. Depaepe, F. Descamps, P. Desiati, G. de Vries-Uiterweerd, T. DeYoung, J. C. Díaz-Vélez, M. Dierckxsens, J. Dreyer, J. P. Dumm, M. R. Duvoort, R. Ehrlich, J. Eisch, R. W. Ellsworth, O. Engdegård, S. Euler, P. A. Evenson, O. Fadiran, A. R. Fazely, T. Feusels, K. Filimonov, C. Finley, M. M. Foerster, B. D. Fox, A. Franckowiak, R. Franke, T. K. Gaisser, J. Gallagher, M. Geisler, L. Gerhardt, L. Gladstone, T. Glüsenkamp, A. Goldschmidt, J. A. Goodman, D. Grant, T. Griesel, A. Groß, S. Grullon, M. Gurtner, C. Ha, A. Hallgren, F. Halzen, K. Han, K. Hanson, K. Helbing, P. Herquet, S. Hickford, G. C. Hill, K. D. Hoffman, A. Homeier, K. Hoshina, D. Hubert, W. Huelsnitz, J. P. Hülß, P. O. Hulth, K. Hultqvist, S. Hussain, A. Ishihara, J. Jacobsen, G. S. Japaridze, H. Johansson, J. M. Joseph, K. H. Kampert, T. Karg, A. Karle, J. L. Kelley, N. Kemming, P. Kenny, J. Kiryluk, F. Kislat, S. R. Klein, S. Knops, J. H. Köhne, G. Kohnen, H. Kolanoski, L. Köpke, D. J. Koskinen, M. Kowalski, T. Kowarik, M. Krasberg, T. Krings, G. Kroll, K. Kuehn, T. Kuwabara, M. Labare, S. Lafebre, K. Laihem, H. Landsman, R. Lauer, R. Lehmann, D. Lennarz, J. Lünemann, J. Madsen, P. Majumdar, A. Marotta, R. Maruyama, K. Mase, H. S. Matis, M. Matusik, K. Meagher, M. Merck, P. Mészáros, T. Meures, E. Middell, N. Milke, J. Miller, T. Montaruli, R. Morse, S. M. Movit, R. Nahnhauer, J. W. Nam, U. Naumann, P. Nießen, D. R. Nygren, S. Odrowski, A. Olivas, M. Olivo, A. O'Murchadha, M. Ono, S. Panknin, L. Paul, C. Pérez de los Heros, J. Petrovic, A. Piegsa, D. Pieloth, R. Porrata, J. Posselt, P. B. Price, M. Prikockis, G. T. Przybylski, K. Rawlins, P. Redl, E. Resconi, W. Rhode, M. Ribordy, A. Rizzo, J. P. Rodrigues, P. Roth, F. Rothmaier, C. Rott, C. Roucelle, T. Ruhe, D. Rutledge, B. Ruzybayev, D. Ryckbosch, H. G. Sander, M. Santander, S. Sarkar, K. Schatto, S. Schlenstedt, T. Schmidt, A. Schukraft, A. Schultes, O. Schulz, M. Schunck, D. Seckel, B. Semburg, S. H. Seo, Y. Sestayo, S. Seunarine, A. Silvestri, A. Slipak, G. M. Spiczak, C. Spiering, M. Stamatikos, T. Stanev, G. Stephens, T. Stezelberger, R. G. Stokstad, S. Stoyanov, E. A. Strahler, T. Straszheim, G. W. Sullivan, Q. Swillens, H. Taavola, I. Taboada, A. Tamburro, O. Tarasova, A. Tepe, S. Ter-Antonyan, S. Tilav, P. A. Toale, S. Toscano, D. Tosi, D. Turčan, N. van Eijndhoven, J. Vandenbroucke, A. van Overloop, J. van Santen, M. Voge, B. Voigt, C. Walck, T. Waldenmaier, M. Wallraff, M. Walter, Ch Weaver, C. Wendt, S. Westerhoff, N. Whitehorn, K. Wiebe, C. H. Wiebusch, G. Wikström, D. R. Williams, R. Wischnewski, H. Wissing, M. Wolf, K. Woschnagg, C. Xu, X. W. Xu, G. Yodh, S. Yoshida, P. Zarzhitsky
  • University of Wisconsin-Madison
  • Ghent University
  • University of Wisconsin-River Falls
  • University of Canterbury
  • University of Oxford
  • University of Wuppertal
  • University of Delaware
  • University of California at Irvine
  • University of California at Berkeley
  • German Electron Synchrotron
  • Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
  • Ohio State University
  • Université libre de Bruxelles
  • Ruhr University Bochum
  • University of Maryland, College Park
  • University of Kansas
  • RWTH Aachen University
  • The Oskar Klein Centre
  • University of Bonn
  • Uppsala University
  • Pennsylvania State University
  • TU Dortmund University
  • Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne
  • Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics
  • Vrije Universiteit Brussel
  • Utrecht University
  • Clark Atlanta University
  • Southern University and A&M College
  • University of Alberta
  • Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz
  • Universite de Mons
  • Chiba University
  • Humboldt University of Berlin
  • University of Bari
  • University of Alaska Anchorage
  • The University of the West Indies
  • NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
  • Georgia Institute of Technology
  • University of Alabama

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

34 Scopus citations

Abstract

We present the search for Cherenkov signatures from relativistic magnetic monopoles in data taken with the AMANDA-II detector, a neutrino telescope deployed in the Antarctic ice cap at the Geographic South Pole. The non-observation of a monopole signal in data collected during the year 2000 improves present experimental limits on the flux of relativistic magnetic monopoles: Our flux limit varies between 3.8 × 10-17 cm-2 s-1 sr-1 (for monopoles moving at the vacuum speed of light) and 8.8 × 10-16 cm-2 s-1 sr-1 (for monopoles moving at a speed β=v/c=0.76, just above the Cherenkov threshold in ice). These limits apply to monopoles that are energetic enough to penetrate the Earth and enter the detector from below the horizon. The limit obtained for monopoles reaching the detector from above the horizon is less stringent by roughly an order of magnitude, due to the much larger background from down-going atmospheric muons. This looser limit is however valid for a larger class of magnetic monopoles, since the monopoles are not required to pass through the Earth.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)361-378
Number of pages18
JournalEuropean Physical Journal C
Volume69
Issue number3
DOIs
StatePublished - Oct 2010

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