The Callan Rubakov Effect

Speaker: T. Daniel Brennan (University of California, San Diego)

Date: Monday, January 22, 2024

Time: 4:00 – 5:00 pm

Location: 472 Willamette Hall

Abstract: The Callan Rubakov Effect describes the interaction between (massless) fermions and a smooth monopole in 4d gauge theory. In this scenario, the fermions can probe the UV physics inside the monopole core which leads to interesting effects such as proton decay in GUT models. However, the monopole-fermion scattering appears to lead to out-states that are not in the perturbative Hilbert space. In this talk, we will review this issue and propose a new physical mechanism that resolves this long-standing confusion.