{{Short description|Hypothetical object in particle physics}} '''Nuclearites''' are hypothetical objects consisting of nuggets of strange quark matter or a strangelet surrounded by an electron shell, forming an atom-like neutral system, but with masses much larger than a normal atom. These heavy compact particles were first proposed by Edward Witten, and the name coined by {{Ill|Alvaro De Rújula|es|}} and Sheldon Glashow in 1984 to describe such particles colliding with the Earth's atmosphere, by analogy to more conventional meteorites.<ref name=":0">{{cite arXiv|last1=Bakari|first1=D.|last2=Cecchini|first2=S.|last3=Dekhissi|first3=H.|last4=Derkaoui|first4=J.|last5=Giacomelli|first5=G.|last6=Giorgini|first6=M.|last7=Mandrioli|first7=G.|last8=Margiotta|first8=A.|last9=Ouchrif|first9=M.|last10=Patrizii|first10=L.|last11=Popa|first11=V.|date=2000-04-18|title=Magnetic monopoles, nuclearites, Q-balls: a qualitative picture|eprint=hep-ex/0004019 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=De Rújula|first1=A.|last2=Glashow|first2=S. L.|date=December 1984|title=Nuclearites—a novel form of cosmic radiation|url=http://www.nature.com/articles/312734a0|journal=Nature|language=en|volume=312|issue=5996|pages=734–737|doi=10.1038/312734a0|bibcode=1984Natur.312..734D |s2cid=4365378|issn=0028-0836|url-access=subscription}}</ref> It is predicted that nuclearites would travel at hundreds of kilometers per second. Owing to their high energies and mass to size ratio, they should form streaks of light in the lower atmospheric regions.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal|last1=Piotrowski|first1=Lech Wiktor|last2=Małek|first2=Katarzyna|last3=Mankiewicz|first3=Lech|last4=Sokołowski|first4=Marcin|last5=Wrochna|first5=Grzegorz|last6=Zadrożny|first6=Adam|last7=Żarnecki|first7=Aleksander Filip|date=2020-08-28|title=Limits on the Flux of Nuclearites and Other Heavy Compact Objects from the Pi of the Sky Project|url=https://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevLett.125.091101|journal=Physical Review Letters|language=en|volume=125|issue=9|article-number=091101|doi=10.1103/PhysRevLett.125.091101|pmid=32915591|arxiv=2008.01285|bibcode=2020PhRvL.125i1101P|s2cid=220961701|issn=0031-9007}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite journal|last1=Okei|first1=K|last2=Wada|first2=T|last3=Yamashita|first3=Y|last4=Kuga|first4=K|last5=Nakagawa|first5=M|last6=Yamamoto|first6=I|last7=Takahashi|first7=N|last8=Iwata|first8=K|last9=Aglietta|first9=M|last10=Castagnoli|first10=C|last11=Saavedra|first11=O|date=2001-03-14|title=Search for nuclearites using the TL stack detector|journal=Journal of Physics G: Nuclear and Particle Physics|volume=27|issue=4|pages=855–865|doi=10.1088/0954-3899/27/4/310|bibcode=2001JPhG...27..855O|issn=0954-3899}}</ref> To date, no nuclearites have been successfully observed, but this failure itself places constraints on some theories of dark matter.<ref name="riken" />
== Properties == The strangelet forms what is called a nuclearite core, composed primarily of a up, down, and strange quarks, in almost equal proportions.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /> Nuclearites are estimated to have masses between 0.1 and 100 kg.<ref name=":1" /> Additionally, they are predicted to be more stable than particles composed of solely up and down quarks. Nuclearites are expected to have a constant matter density.<ref name=":0" /> The hypothesized source of these particles are relics from the early universe or the big bang, as well as extreme energetic astrophysical phenomena such as the merger of two quark stars.<ref name=":3">{{Cite journal|last1=Pǎvǎlaş|first1=G. E.|last2=Popa|first2=V.|last3=Trache|first3=Livius|last4=Stoica|first4=Sabin|date=2008|title=Nuclearite Detection with the ANTARES Neutrino Telescope|url=http://aip.scitation.org/doi/abs/10.1063/1.2870433|journal=AIP Conference Proceedings|language=en|publisher=AIP|volume=972|pages=511–515|doi=10.1063/1.2870433|bibcode=2008AIPC..972..511P|url-access=subscription}}</ref>
== Experimental techniques for detection == Nuclearites should in principle be detectable based on their interaction with the Earth's atmosphere, with neutrino telescopes, and in collider experiments.<ref name="riken">{{Cite web|title=Nuclearites, a form of exotic space matter, found to be very rare|url=https://www.riken.jp/en/news_pubs/research_news/rr/20201106_1/index.html|access-date=2021-08-08|website=www.riken.jp|language=en}}</ref> In particular, neutrino telescopes such as ANTARES or Ice Cube are possible detectors for nuclearites.<ref name=":3" /><ref> {{Cite journal|last1=Borgland|first1=Anders|last2=Elmer|first2=Peter|last3=Kirby|first3=Michael|last4=Patton|first4=Simon|last5=Potekhin|first5=Maxim|last6=Viren|first6=Brett|last7=Yanny|first7=Brian|date=2014-12-19|title=HEP-FCE Working Group on Libraries and Tools|doi=10.2172/1212161|arxiv=1506.01309|osti=1212161 |s2cid=117816301}}</ref>
== See also ==
* Strangelet * Cosmic rays
== References == {{reflist}}
Category:Exotic matter Category:Hypotheses in physics Category:Strange quark
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