Dirac strings and magnetic monopoles in the spin ice, Dy2Ti2O7

Recent proposals in condensed matter physics that magnetic monopoles can appear as emergent quasiparticles have attracted wide levels of interest. Dirac's original picture of magnetic monopoles had them connected to strings through which magnetic flux flowed. Here we report studies into a system called Spin Ice, where spins obey ''ice rules'' of 2 spins into and 2 spins out of their tetrahedron. In these materials it has been predicted that strings of spins form via a 3D Kasteleyn transition. The geometry of spin-ice allows for net magnetic charge (magnetic monopoles) to form where ''ice rules'' are broken at the tips of the strings. Here we present three experimental pieces of evidence for these strings and magnetic monopoles.