Results of Search for Magnetized Quark-Nugget Dark Matter from Radial Impacts on Earth

• Main Authors: J. Pace VanDevender, Robert G. Schmitt, Niall McGinley, David G. Duggan, Seamus McGinty, Aaron P. VanDevender, Peter Wilson, Deborah Dixon, Helen Girard, Jacquelyn McRae
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2021-04-01
• Series: Universe
• Subjects: dark matter; quark nugget; magnetized quark nugget; MQN; nuclearite; magnetar
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2218-1997/7/5/116

Magnetized quark nuggets (MQNs) are a recently proposed dark-matter candidate consistent with the Standard Model and with Tatsumi’s theory of quark-nugget cores in magnetars. Previous publications have covered their formation in the early universe, aggregation into a broad mass distribution before they can decay by the weak force, interaction with normal matter through their magnetopause, and a first observation consistent MQNs: a nearly tangential impact limiting their surface-magnetic-field parameter <i>B_o</i> from Tatsumi’s ~10^12+/−1 T to 1.65 × 10¹² T +/− 21%. The MQN mass distribution and interaction cross section strongly depend on <i>B_o</i>. Their magnetopause is much larger than their geometric dimensions and can cause sufficient energy deposition to form non-meteorite craters, which are reported approximately annually. We report computer simulations of the MQN energy deposition in water-saturated peat, soft sediments, and granite, and report the results from excavating such a crater. Five points of agreement between observations and hydrodynamic simulations of an MQN impact support this second observation being consistent with MQN dark matter and suggest a method for qualifying additional MQN events. The results also redundantly constrain <i>B_o</i> to ≥ 4 × 10¹¹ T.