The existence of monopoles was first proposed by the physicist Paul Dirac in a paper published in 1931. However, scientists have been hard pressed at proving their existence.
A magnetic monopole is essentially a magnet with only one pole. It is different from a typical bar magnet because with a regular magnet, you can't simply break it in half to get a north half and a south half. Instead, you'll end up with two smaller magnets, both with two poles.
A magnetic monopole is a theoretical particle that particle physicists have long been trying to synthesize in laboratories since Paul Dirac's revolutionary paper was published. After more than 80 years, scientists have finally succeeded in creating an artificial monopole in a quantum system. The synthesized particle may finally help scientists understand the mysterious inner workings of this exotic particle. The research team from the Aalto University in Finland and Amherst College in Massachusetts, have published their findings in the online journal Nature.
Experiments emulating magnetic monopoles have already been conducted in the past but this is the first time that a synthetic monopole was created in a quantum system.
"Detecting a natural magnetic monopole would be a revolutionary event comparable to the discovery of the electron," said the team. "(Our work) provides conclusive and long-awaited experimental evidence of the existence of Dirac monopoles. It provides an unprecedented opportunity to observe and manipulate these quantum mechanical entities in a controlled environment."
Dirac initially theorized that the existence of monopoles should also consequently mean that all electric charges in existence should also be quantized. It has already been proven that electrical charges are indeed quantized. While this fact hints at the existence of monopoles, the theory has not yet been proven to be accurate. Scientists who worked in the project will be able to now examine the synthetic monopole to hopefully explain a number of phenomena.
The researchers were able to create their artificial monopole by making a quantum system using a Bose-Einstein condensate, an exotic state of matter consisting of a supercooled gas of bosons. The scientists were then able to detect an identifiable magnetic monopole using direct imaging.
