LIMITS ON CHARGED PARTICLES IN COSMIC RAYS

Heavy Particle Flux in Cosmic Rays

INSPIRE   JSON  (beta) PDGID:
S015F
VALUE (cm${}^{-2}$sr${}^{-1}$s${}^{-1}$) CL% EVTS DOCUMENT ID TECN  COMMENT
• • We do not use the following data for averages, fits, limits, etc. • •
$<6.2 \times 10^{-10}$ 90 0 1
ALEMANNO
2022
DAMP fractionally charged particles in space
2
CAO
2022
superheavy DM $\rightarrow$ ${{\mathit \gamma}}$ rays
3
ALVIS
2018
MAJD Fractionally charged
$<1 \times 10^{-8}$ 90 4
AGNESE
2015
CDM2 $\mathit Q$ = 1/6
$\sim$$6 \times 10^{-9}$ 2 5
SAITO
1990
$\mathit Q$ $\simeq{}$ 14, $\mathit m$ $\simeq{}$ 370${\mathit m}_{{{\mathit p}}}$
$<1.4 \times 10^{-12}$ 90 0 6
MINCER
1985
CALO $\mathit m$ ${}\geq{}$ 1 TeV
7
SAKUYAMA
1983B
 PLAS $\mathit m$ $\sim{}$ 1 TeV
$<1.7 \times 10^{-11}$ 99 0 8
BHAT
1982
CC
$<1. \times 10^{-9}$ 90 0 9
MARINI
1982
CNTR $\mathit Q$= 1, $\mathit m$ $\sim{}4.5{\mathit m}_{{{\mathit p}}}$
$2. \times 10^{-9}$ 3 10
YOCK
1981
SPRK $\mathit Q$= 1, $\mathit m$ $\sim{}4.5{\mathit m}_{{{\mathit p}}}$
3 10
YOCK
1981
SPRK Fractionally charged
$3.0 \times 10^{-9}$ 3 11
YOCK
1980
SPRK $\mathit m$ $\sim{}$4.5 ${\mathit m}_{{{\mathit p}}}$
($4$ $\pm1$) $ \times 10^{-11}$ 3
GOODMAN
1979
ELEC $\mathit m$ ${}\geq{}$ 5 GeV
$<1.3 \times 10^{-9}$ 90 12
BHAT
1978
CNTR $\mathit m$ $>$1 GeV
$<1.0 \times 10^{-9}$ 0
BRIATORE
1976
ELEC
$<7. \times 10^{-10}$ 90 0
YOCK
1975
ELEC $\mathit Q$ $>7{{\mathit e}}$ or $<-7{{\mathit e}}$
$>6. \times 10^{-9}$ 5 13
YOCK
1974
CNTR $\mathit m$ $>$6 GeV
$<3.0 \times 10^{-8}$ 0
DARDO
1972
CNTR
$<1.5 \times 10^{-9}$ 0
TONWAR
1972
CNTR $\mathit m$ $>$10 GeV
$<3.0 \times 10^{-10}$ 0
BJORNBOE
1968
CNTR $\mathit m$ $>$5 GeV
$<5.0 \times 10^{-11}$ 90 0
JONES
1967
ELEC $\mathit m=5-$15 GeV
1  ALEMANNO 2022 search for flux of fractionally charged particles (FCPs) in space; no signal observed; limits set in flux vs charge plane for mass as low as GeV.
2  CAO 2022 search for superheavy DM decaying to gamma rays; no signal observed; limits placed in mass vs. lifetime plane for m $\sim{}$ $10^{5} - 10^{9}$ GeV for DM decays to ${{\mathit b}}{{\overline{\mathit b}}}$ or ${{\mathit \tau}}{{\overline{\mathit \tau}}}$.
3  ALVIS 2018 search for fractional charged flux of cosmic matter at Majorana demonstrator; no signal observed and limits are set on the flux of lightly ionizing particles for charge as low as e/1000.
4  See AGNESE 2015 Fig. 6 for limits extending down to Q = 1/200.
5  SAITO 1990 candidates carry about 450 MeV/nucleon. Cannot be accounted for by conventional backgrounds. Consistent with strange quark matter hypothesis.
6  MINCER 1985 is high statistics study of calorimeter signals delayed by 20$-$200 ns. Calibration with AGS beam shows they can be accounted for by rare fluctuations in signals from low-energy hadrons in the shower. Claim that previous delayed signals including BJORNBOE 1968, DARDO 1972, BHAT 1982, SAKUYAMA 1983B below may be due to this fake effect.
7  SAKUYAMA 1983B analyzed 6000 extended air shower events. Increase of delayed particles and change of lateral distribution above $10^{17}$ eV may indicate production of very heavy parent at top of atmosphere.
8  BHAT 1982 observed 12 events with delay $>2. \times 10^{-8}~$s and with more than 40 particles. 1 eV has good hadron shower. However all events are delayed in only one of two detectors in cloud chamber, and could not be due to strongly interacting massive particle.
9  MARINI 1982 applied PEP-counter for TOF. Above limit is for velocity = 0.54 of light. Limit is inconsistent with YOCK 1980 YOCK 1981 events if isotropic dependence on zenith angle is assumed.
10  YOCK 1981 saw another 3 events with $\mathit Q$ = $\pm1$ and $\mathit m$ about 4.5${\mathit m}_{{{\mathit p}}}$ as well as 2 events with $\mathit m$ $>5.3{\mathit m}_{{{\mathit p}}}$, $\mathit Q$ = $\pm0.75\pm0.05$ and $\mathit m$ $>2.8{\mathit m}_{{{\mathit p}}}$, $\mathit Q$ = $\pm0.70\pm0.05$ and 1 event with $\mathit m$ = ($9.3$ $\pm3.){\mathit m}_{{{\mathit p}}}$, $\mathit Q$ = $\pm0.89\pm0.06$ as possible heavy candidates.
11  YOCK 1980 events are with charge exactly or approximately equal to unity.
12  BHAT 1978 is at Kolar gold fields. Limit is for $\tau $ $>10^{-6}$ s.
13  YOCK 1974 events could be tritons.
References