Kyle Lawson

Isotropic Radio Background from Quark Nugget Dark Matter

Abstract Recent measurements by the arcade2 experiment unambiguously show an excess in the isotropic radio background at frequencies below the GHz scale. We argue that this excess may be a natural consequence of the interaction of visible and dark matter in the early universe if the dark matter consists of heavy nuggets of quark matter. Explanation of the observed radio band excess requires the introduction of no new parameters, rather we exploit the same dark matter model and identical normalization parameters to those previously used to explain other excesses of diffuse emission from the centre of our galaxy. These previously observed excesses include the WMAP Haze of GHz radiation, keV X-ray emission and MeV gamma-ray radiation.

Electrosphere of macroscopic 'quark nuclei': A source for diffuse MeV emissions from dark matter

Using a Thomas-Fermi model, we calculate the structure of the electrosphere of the quark antimatter nuggets postulated to comprise much of the dark matter. This provides a single self-consistent density profile from ultrarelativistic densities to the nonrelativistic Boltzmann regime that we use to present microscopically justified calculations of several properties of the nuggets, including their net charge, and the ratio of MeV to 511 keV emissions from electron annihilation. We find that the calculated parameters agree with previous phenomenological estimates based on the observational supposition that the nuggets are a source of several unexplained diffuse emissions from the Galaxy. As no phenomenological parameters are required to describe these observations, the calculation provides another nontrivial verification of the dark-matter proposal. The structure of the electrosphere is quite general and will also be valid at the surface of strange-quark stars, should they exist.

Atmospheric radio signals from quark nugget dark matter

If the dark matter of our galaxy is composed of nuggets of quarks or antiquarks in a colour superconducting phase there will be a small but non-zero flux of these objects through the Earths atmosphere. A nugget of quark matter will deposit only a small fraction of its kinetic energy in the atmosphere and is unlikely to be detectable. If however the impacting object is composed of antiquarks the energy deposited can be quite large and contain a significant charged particle content. These relativistic secondary particles will subsequently be deflected by the earths magnetic field resulting in the emission of synchrotron radiation. This work will argue that this radiation should be detectable at radio frequencies and that present and proposed experiments are capable of detecting such a signal.

Quark nugget dark matter: Comparison with radio observations of nearby galaxies

Abstract It has been recently claimed that radio observations of nearby spiral galaxies essentially rule out a dark matter source for the galactic haze [1] . Here we consider the low energy thermal emission from a quark nugget dark matter model in the context of microwave emission from the galactic centre and radio observations of nearby Milky Way like galaxies. We demonstrate that observed emission levels do not strongly constrain this specific dark matter candidate across a broad range of the allowed parameter space in drastic contrast with conventional dark matter models based on the WIMP paradigm.

Quark nugget dark matter: no contradiction with 511 keV line emission from dwarf galaxies

The observed galactic 511 keV line has been interpreted in a number of papers as a possible signal of dark matter annihilation within the galactic bulge. If this is the case then it is possible that a similar spectral feature may be observed in association with nearby dwarf galaxies. These objects are believed to be strongly dark matter dominated and present a relatively clean observational target. Recently INTEGRAL observations have provided new constraints on the 511 keV flux from nearby dwarf galaxies [1] motivating further investigation into the mechanism by which this radiation may arise. In the model presented here dark matter in the form of heavy quark nuggets produces the galactic 511 keV emission line through interactions with the visible matter. It is argued that this type of interaction is not strongly constrained by the flux limits reported in [2].The observed galactic 511 keV line has been interpreted in a number of papers as a possible signal of dark matter annihilation within the galactic bulge. If this is the case then we should expect a similar spectral feature associated with nearby dwarf galaxies which are dark matter dominated. It has recently been argued [1] that the absence of such a signal excludes a dark matter explanation as the major source for the galactic 511 keV line. In the model presented here dark matter in the form of heavy quark nuggets produces the galactic 511 keV emission line through interactions with the visible matter. It is argued, however, that this type of interaction is not subject to the strong dark matter annihilation constraints presented in [1].