The universe out of a monopole in the laboratory?

Abstract

To explore the possibility that an inflationary universe can be created out of a stable particle in the laboratory, we consider the classical and quantum dynamics of a magnetic monopole in the thin-shell approximation. Classically there are three types of solutions: stable, collapsing and inflating monopoles. We argue that the transition from a stable monopole to an inflating one could occur either by collision with a domain wall or by quantum tunneling.

Comments: to appear in Phys. Rev. D with changing title into "Is it possible to create a universe out of a monopole in the laboratory?", text and figures revised, 21 pages, 6 figures