Researchers at Aalto University and Amherst College, USA,
have observed a point-like monopole in a quantum field itself for the first
time.
(May 2, 2015) This
discovery connects to important characteristics of the elusive monopole magnet.
The results were just published in Science magazine.
The researchers performed an experiment in which they
manipulated a gas of rubidium atoms prepared in a nonmagnetic state near
absolute zero temperature. Under these extreme conditions they were able to
create a monopole in the quantum-mechanical field that describes the gas.