Magnetic monopoles from strong magnetic fields

Magnetic monopoles are among the theoretically most interesting hypothetical particles that are being searched for. However, this is hampered by their strong magnetic charge, because of which their production cross section in proton-proton collisions cannot be computed using perturbation theory. In this talk, I will discuss a different production mechanism: Schwinger pair production. Just like electron-position pairs would be produced in a strong electric, a sufficiently strong magnetic field would produce monopole-antimonopole pairs, if they exist. The rate of this process can be computed even at strong coupling and is largely independent of their microscopic details. Therefore it can give reliable, universal mass bounds that apply to all types of monopoles. The strongest magnetic fields in the Universe are in magnetars and in heavy ion collision experiments, and I will discuss the bounds arising from them as well as the theoretical challenges in obtaining reliable and accurate results from heavy ion collisions carried out in November 2018 at the LHC.