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In 2010, the CERN (European Centre for Particle Physics Research) Research Board unanimously approved MoEDAL, the seventh international experiment at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), which is designed to search for avatars of new physics signified by highly ionizing particles. A MoEDAL discovery would have revolutionary implications for our understanding of the microcosm, providing insights into such fundamental questions as: do magnetic monopoles exist, are there extra dimensions or new symmetries of nature; what is the mechanism for the generation of mass; what is the nature of dark matter and how did the big bang unfurl at the earliest times.

The MoEDAL experiment at Point 8 of the LHC ring is the seventh and newest LHC experiment. It is dedicated to the search for highly-ionizing particle avatars of physics beyond the Standard Model, extending significantly the discovery horizon of the LHC. A MoEDAL discovery would have revolutionary implications for our fundamental understanding of the Microcosm. MoEDAL is an unconventional and largely passive LHC detector comprised of the largest array of Nuclear Track Detector stacks ever deployed at an accelerator, surrounding the intersection region at Point 8 on the LHC ring. Another novel feature is the use of paramagnetic trapping volumes to capture both electrically and magnetically charged highly-ionizing particles predicted in new physics scenarios. It includes an array of TimePix pixel devices for monitoring highly-ionizing particle backgrounds. The main passive elements of the MoEDAL detector do not require a trigger system, electronic readout, or online computerized data acquisition. The aim of this paper is to give an overview of the MoEDAL physics reach, which is largely complementary to the programs of the large multipurpose LHC detectors ATLAS and CMS.

In this review, we discuss recent developments in both the theory and the experimental searches of magnetic monopoles in past, current and future colliders and in the Cosmos. The theoretical models include, apart from the standard Grand Unified Theories, extensions of the Standard Model that admit magnetic monopole solutions with finite energy and masses that can be as light as a few TeV. Specifically, we discuss, among other scenarios, modified Cho–Maison monopoles and magnetic monopoles in (string-inspired, higher derivative) Born–Infeld extensions of the hypercharge sector of the Standard Model. We also outline the conditions for which effective field theories describing the interaction of monopoles with photons are valid and can be used for result interpretation in monopole production at colliders. The experimental part of the review focuses on, past and present, cosmic and collider searches, including the latest bounds on monopole masses and magnetic charges by the ATLAS and MoEDAL experiments at the LHC, as well as prospects for future searches.

The MoEDAL experiment is the seventh LHC experiment to be approved by the LHC. It is designed to detect highly ionizing particles such as magnetic monopoles, dyons and singly and multiply electrically charged stable massive particles predicted in a number of theoretical scenarios. MoEDAL consists of an array of ∼400 stacks of passive Nuclear Track Detectors deployed around the LHCb intersection region, within the VELO cavern. SpaIlation product backgrounds will be monitored with an array of MediPix pixel detectors. The design of the detector and its physics reach, which is complementary to that of the large general purpose LHC experiments ATLAS and CMS, will be discussed.

In 2010, the CERN (European Centre for Particle Physics Research) Research Board unanimously approved MoEDAL, the seventh international experiment at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), which is designed to search for avatars of new physics signified by highly ionizing particles. A MoEDAL discovery would have revolutionary implications for our understanding of the microcosm, providing insights into such fundamental questions as: do magnetic monopoles exist, are there extra dimensions or new symmetries of nature; what is the mechanism for the generation of mass; what is the nature of dark matter and how did the big bang unfurl at the earliest times.