Have magnetic monopoles been detected?

LNC scientist report that they have discovered magnetic monopoles (see this and this). The claim that free monopoles are discovered is to my opinion too strong, at least in TGD framework.

TGD allows monopole fluxes but no free monopoles. Wormhole throats however behave effectively like monopoles when looked at either space-time sheet, A or B. The first TGD explanation that comes in mind is in terms of 2-sheeted structures with wormhole contacts at the ends and monopole flux tubes connecting the wormhole throats at A and B so that closed monopole flux is the outcome. All elementary particles are predicted to be this kind of structures in the scale of Compton length. First wormhole carries throat carries the elementary particle quantum numbers and second throat neutrino pair neutralizing the weak isospin so that weak interaction is finite ranged. Compton length scales like h_eff and can be nano-scopic or even large for large values of h_eff. Also for abnormally large p-adic length scale implying different mass scale for the particle, the size scale increases.

How to explain the observations? Throats with opposite apparent quantized magnetic charges at given space-time sheet should move effectively like independent particles (although connected by flux tube) in opposite directions to give rise to an effective monopole current accompanied by an opposite current at the other space-time sheet. This is like having balls at the ends of very soft strings at the two sheets. One must assume that only the current only at single sheet is detected. It is mentioned that ohmic component corresponds to effectively free monopoles (already having long flux tubes connecting throats with small magnetic string tension). In strong magnetic fields shorter pairs of monopoles are reported to become "ionised" and give rise to a current increasing exponentially as function of square root of external magnetic field strength. This could correspond to a phase transition increasing h_eff with no change in particle mass. This would increase the length of monopole flux tube and the throats would be effectively free magnetic charges in much longer Compton scale. The space-time sheet at which the throat carrying the quantum numbers of fermion is preferred in the case of elementary fermions.

The analog of color de-confinement comes in mind and one cannot exclude color force since non-vanishing Kähler field is necessarily accompanied by non-vanishing classical color gauge fields. Effectively free motion below the length scale of wormhole contact would correspond to asymtotic freedom. Amusingly, one would have zoomed up representation of dynamics of colored objects! One can also consider interpretation in terms of Kähler monopoles: induced Kähler form corresponds to classical electroweak U(1) field coupling to weak hypercharge but asymptotic freedom need not fit with this interpretation. Induced gauge fields are however strongly constrained: the components of color gauge fields are proportional to Hamiltonians of color rotation and induced K\"ahler form. Hence it is difficult to draw any conclusions.

For a summary of earlier postings see Latest progress in TGD.