Search for nuclearites with the KM3NeT detector

Abstract

Strange quark matter (SQM) is a hypothetical type of matter composed of almost equal quantities of up, down and strange quarks. In [1], Edward Witten presented the SQM as a denser and more stable matter that could represent the ground state of Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD). Massive SQM particles are called nuclearites. These particles could have been produced in violent astrophysical processes, such as neutron star collisions and could be present in the cosmic radiation. Nuclearites with masses greater than 1013 GeV and velocities of about 250 km/s (typical galactic velocities) could reach the Earth and interact with atoms and molecules of sea water within the sensitive volume of the deep-sea neutrino telescopes. The SQM particles can be detected with the KM3NeT telescope (whose first lines are already installed and taking data in the Mediterranean Sea) through the visible blackbody radiation generated along their path inside or near the instrumented area. In this work the results of a study using Monte Carlo simulations of down-going nuclearites are discussed. © Copyright owned by the author(s).