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Using the Moon As A Low-Noise Seismic Detector For Strange Quark NuggetsStrange quark matter made of up, down and strange quarks has been postulated by Witten [1]. Strange quark matter would be nearly charge neutral and would have density of nuclear matter (10(exp 14) gm/cu cm). Witten also suggested that nuggets of strange quark matter, or strange quark nuggets (SQNs), could have formed shortly after the Big Bang, and that they would be viable candidates for cold dark matter. As suggested by de Rujula and Glashow [2], an SQN may pass through a celestial body releasing detectable seismic energy along a straight line. The Moon, being much quieter seismically than the Earth, would be a favorable place to search for such events. We review previous searches for SQNs to illustrate the parameter space explored by using the Moon as a low-noise detector of SQNs. We also discuss possible detection schemes using a single seismometer, and using an International Lunar Seismic Network.
Document ID
20060050243
Acquisition Source
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Document Type
Preprint (Draft being sent to journal)
External Source(s)
Authors
Banerdt, W. Bruce
(Jet Propulsion Lab., California Inst. of Tech. Pasadena, CA, United States)
Chui, Talso
(Jet Propulsion Lab., California Inst. of Tech. Pasadena, CA, United States)
Griggs, Cornelius E.
(Maryland Univ. College Park, MD, United States)
Herrin, Eugene T.
(Southern Methodist Univ. Dallas, TX, United States)
Nakamura, Yosio
(Texas Univ. Austin, TX, United States)
Paik, Ho Jung
(Maryland Univ. College Park, MD, United States)
Penanen, Konstantin
(Jet Propulsion Lab., California Inst. of Tech. Pasadena, CA, United States)
Rosenbaum, Doris
(Southern Methodist Univ. Dallas, TX, United States)
Teplitz, Vigdor L.
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Young, Joseph
(Jet Propulsion Lab., California Inst. of Tech. Pasadena, CA, United States)
Date Acquired
August 23, 2013
Publication Date
January 1, 2006
Subject Category
Astrophysics
Meeting Information
Meeting: 3rd International Conference on Particle and Fundamental Physics in Space, Beijing, China, April 19-21, 2006
Location: Beijing
Country: China
Start Date: April 19, 2006
End Date: April 21, 2006
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other
Keywords
moon
exploration
strange quark

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