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

2020 
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 Bo from Tatsumi’s ~1012+/−1 T to 1.65 × 1012 T +/− 21%. The MQN mass distribution and interaction cross section strongly depend on Bo. 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 Bo to ≥ 4 × 1011 T.
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