Wednesday, February 14, 2018

electromagnetism - What is the explanation of the non-existence of magnetic monopoles?



Electric monopoles do exist, but why cannot magnetic monopoles exist?


The question is closed because I need to clarify it, but I don't know how I could ask it another way. However, I've recieved many answers that were appropiate and added something to my knowledge, so I consider it answered.



Answer



There is no theoretical reason why magnetic monopoles cannot exist and indeed there are good reasons for supposing that they should exist. It's just that we have never observed one. In the past there have been various experiments to detect magnetic monopoles, though I think everyone has given up on the idea by now.



If you're asking why we can't get monopoles out of a magnet that's because the magnetic field of a magnet is built up from the individual magnetic fields of the unpaired electrons in the magnet, and those electrons have a dipole field. There isn't any way to combine the dipole fields of the electrons to create a monopole, though it's possible to make things that look locally approximately like monopoles.


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