  In this work we study demagnetization protocols for an artificial spin ice in
a triangular geometry. Our results show that a simple hysteresis-like process
is very efficient in driving the system to its ground state, even for a
relatively strong disorder in the system, confirming previous expectations. In
addition, transitions between the magnetized state and the ground state were
observed to be mediated by the creation and propagation of vertices that behave
like magnetic monopoles pseudo-particles. This is an important step towards a
more detailed experimental study of monopole-like excitations in artificial
spin ice systems.
