't Hooft-Polyakov monopoles in an antiferromagnetic Bose-Einstein condensate

Abstract

We show that an antiferromagnetic spin-1 Bose-Einstein condensate, which can for instance be created with 23-Na atoms in an optical trap, has not only singular line-like vortex excitations, but also allows for singular point-like topological excitations, i.e., 't Hooft-Polyakov monopoles. We discuss the static and dynamic properties of these monopoles.