Abstract: We study the energy loss of excited monopolium in an atomic medium. We perform a classical calculation in line with a similar calculation performed for charged particles which leads in the non-relativistic limit to the Bethe-Bloch formula except for the density dependence of the medium, which we do not consider in this paper. Our result shows that for maximally deformed Rydberg states, the ionization of monopolium in a light atomic medium is similar to that of light ions.

Abstract: Double parton distribution functions (dPDF), accessible in high energy proton-proton and proton-nucleus collisions, encode information on how partons inside a proton are correlated among each other and could represent a tool to explore the 3D proton structure. In recent papers, double parton correlations have been studied in the valence quark region, by means of constituent quark models. This framework allows to understand clearly the dynamical origin of the correlations and to establish which, among the features of the results, are model independent. Recent relevant results, obtained in a relativistic light-front scheme, able to overcome some drawbacks of previous calculations, such as the poor support, will be presented. Peculiar transverse momentum correlations, generated by the correct treatment of the boosts, are obtained. The role of spin correlations will be also shown. In this covariant approach, the symmetries of the dPDFs are unambiguously reproduced. The study of the QCD evolution of the model results has been performed in the valence sector, showing that, in some cases, the effect of evolution does not cancel that of correlations.

Abstract: 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.

Abstract: An explicit evaluation of the double parton distribution functions (dPDFs), within a relativistic Light-Front approach to constituent quark models, is presented. dPDFs encode information on the correlations between two partons inside a target and represent the non-perturbative QCD ingredient for the description of double parton scattering in proton-proton collisions, a crucial issue in the search of new Physics at the LHC. Valence dPDFs are evaluated at the low scale of the model and the perturbative scale of the experiments is reached by means of QCD evolution. The present results show that the strong correlation effects present at the scale of the model are still sizable, in the valence region, at the experimental scale. At the low values of x presently studied at the LHC the correlations become less relevant, although they are still important for the spin-dependent contributions to unpolarized proton scattering.

Abstract: The MoEDAL experiment is designed to search for magnetic monopoles and other highly-ionising particles produced in high-energy collisions at the LHC. The largely passive MoEDAL detector, deployed at Interaction Point 8 on the LHC ring, relies on two dedicated direct detection techniques. The first technique is based on stacks of nuclear-track detectors with surface area similar to 18 m(2), sensitive to particle ionisation exceeding a high threshold. These detectors are analysed offline by optical scanning microscopes. The second technique is based on the trapping of charged particles in an array of roughly 800 kg of aluminium samples. These samples are monitored offline for the presence of trapped magnetic charge at a remote superconducting magnetometer facility. We present here the results of a search for magnetic monopoles using a 160 kg prototype MoEDAL trapping detector exposed to 8TeV proton-proton collisions at the LHC, for an integrated luminosity of 0.75 fb(-1). No magnetic charge exceeding 0.5g(D) (where g(D) is the Dirac magnetic charge) is measured in any of the exposed samples, allowing limits to be placed on monopole production in the mass range 100 GeV <= m <= 3500 GeV. Model-independent cross-section limits are presented in fiducial regions of monopole energy and direction for 1g(D) <= vertical bar g vertical bar <= 6g(D), and model-dependent cross-section limits are obtained for Drell-Yan pair production of spin-1/2 and spin-0 monopoles for 1g(D) <= vertical bar g vertical bar <= 4g(D). Under the assumption of Drell-Yan cross sections, mass limits are derived for vertical bar g vertical bar = 2g(D) and vertical bar g vertical bar = 3g(D) for the first time at the LHC, surpassing the results from previous collider experiments.