Magnetic monopole-domain wall collisions

Interactions of different types of topological defects can play an important role in the aftermath of a phase transition. We study interactions of fundamental magnetic monopoles and stable domain walls in a grand unified theory in which SU(5) x Z(2) symmetry is spontaneously broken to SU(3) x SU(2) x U(1)/Z(6). We find that there are only two distinct outcomes depending on the relative orientation of the monopole and the wall in internal space. In one case, the monopole passes through the wall, while in the other it unwinds on hitting the wall.