Sensitivity of the INO-ICAL detector to magnetic monopoles

Abstract

Sub-relativistic magnetic monopoles are predicted from the GUT era by theory. To date there have been no confirmed observations of such exotic particles. The Iron CALorimeter (ICAL) at the India-based Neutrino Observatory (INO) aims to measure the neutrino oscillation parameters precisely. As it is a tracking detector there is also the possibility of detecting magnetic monopoles in the sub-relativistic region. Using ICAL the magnetic monopole event is characterised by the large time intervals of up to 0.3μs between the signals in successive layers of the active detectors. The aim of this study is to identify the sensitivity of ICAL for a particle carrying magnetic charge in the mass range from 107–1017GeV with β=v/c ranging from 10-3-7×10-1. In this velocity and mass range, the detector sensitivity is ∼1.6×10-16(cm2srs)-1 for a live-time of 10y. The sensitivity can be increased by a factor of two with some additional detectors on the walls of the cavern.