Are magnetic monopoles hadrons?

Abstract

The charges of magnetic monopoles are constrained to a multiple of $2\pi$ times the inverse of the elementary unit electric charge. In the standard model, quarks have fractional charge, raising the question of whether the basic magnetic monople unit is a multiple of $2\pi /e$ or three times that. A simple lattice construction shows how a magnetic monopole of the lower strength is possible if it interacts with gluonic fields as well. Such a monopole is thus a hadron. This is consistent with the construction of magnetic monopoles in grand unified theories.

Comments: Poster presented at Lattice2004(topology), Fermilab, June 21-26, 2004. 3 pages, 5 figures