# Nuclearite > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Nuclearite > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Nuclearite.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclearite > Source revision: 1337050293 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|Hypothetical object in particle physics}} '''Nuclearites''' are hypothetical objects consisting of nuggets of [strange quark matter](/source/Strange_matter) or a [strangelet](/source/strangelet) surrounded by an electron shell, forming an [atom](/source/atom)-like neutral system, but with masses much larger than a normal atom. These heavy compact particles were first proposed by [Edward Witten](/source/Edward_Witten), and the name coined by {{Ill|Alvaro De Rújula|es|}} and [Sheldon Glashow](/source/Sheldon_Glashow) in 1984 to describe such particles colliding with the Earth's atmosphere, by analogy to more conventional [meteorites](/source/meteorites).{{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 }}{{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}} 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.{{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}}{{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}} To date, no nuclearites have been successfully observed, but this failure itself places constraints on some theories of [dark matter](/source/dark_matter). == Properties == The [strangelet](/source/strangelet) forms what is called a nuclearite core, composed primarily of a [up](/source/Up_quark), [down](/source/Down_quark), and [strange quarks](/source/strange_quark),  in almost equal proportions. Nuclearites are estimated to have masses between 0.1 and 100 kg. 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](/source/Density). The hypothesized source of these particles are relics from the [early universe](/source/Chronology_of_the_universe) or the [big bang](/source/Big_Bang), as well as extreme energetic astrophysical phenomena such as the merger of two [quark star](/source/quark_star)s.{{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}} == Experimental techniques for detection == Nuclearites should in principle be detectable based on their interaction with the [Earth's atmosphere](/source/Atmosphere_of_Earth), with [neutrino telescopes](/source/Neutrino_detector), and in [collider experiments](/source/Collider).{{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}} In particular, neutrino telescopes such as [ANTARES](/source/ANTARES_(telescope)) or [Ice Cube](/source/IceCube_Neutrino_Observatory) are possible detectors for nuclearites. {{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}} == See also == * [Strangelet](/source/Strangelet) * [Cosmic ray](/source/Cosmic_ray)s == References == {{reflist}} Category:Exotic matter Category:Hypotheses in physics Category:Strange quark {{particle-stub}} --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Nuclearite](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclearite) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclearite?action=history)). 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