Strange Quark Matter in Cosmic Ray Flux and Exotic Events |
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Authors: | Shibaji Banerjee Sanjay K Ghosh Amal Mazumdar Sibaji Raha Debapriyo Syam |
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Institution: | (1) Physics Department, Bose Institute, 93/1, A.P.C. Road, Calcutta, 700009, India;(2) Physics Department, Presidency College, 86/1, College Street, Calcutta, 700073, India |
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Abstract: | There have been several reports of exotic nuclear fragments, with highly unusual charge to mass ratio, in cosmic ray experiments.
Although there exist experimental uncertainties which make them, at best, only candidate `exotic' events, it is important
to understand what they could be, if they are eventually confirmed. Among other possible explanations, some authors have interpreted
them to be lumps of strange quark matter (strangelets).A major problem with such an interpretation is that to reach the earth's
surface, they must possess an unusually high penetrability through the terrestrial atmosphere. We show that a recently proposed
mechanism for the propagation of strangelets through the earth's atmosphere, together with a proper account of charge capture
and ionisation loss, would solve this problem. We also argue that this could lead to viable strategies for definitive detection
of strange quark matter in cosmic ray flux using aground based large area array of passive detectors.
This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date. |
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