Can track-etch detector CR-39 record low-velocity GUT magnetic monopoles?

Abstract

A set of new data on the response of the CR-39 detector to low-energy heavy ions, collected with a recently developed technique based on atomic force microscopy, was used to evaluate the effectiveness of nuclear stopping in producing etchable tracks relative to electronic stopping. The results for two types of CR-39 are found to be significantly different from those obtained previously with other methods. I discuss the implications of the use of CR-39 for detecting particles with low ionization rates such as supermassive magnetic monopoles in cosmic rays as cosmological relics.