Death and serious injury from dark matter
Macroscopic dark matter (macros) refers to a class of dark matter candidates that scatter elastically off of ordinary matter with a large geometric cross-section. A wide range of macro masses MX and cross-sections σX remain unprobed. We show that over a wide region within the unexplored parameter sp...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Elsevier
2020-04-01
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| Series: | Physics Letters B |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0370269320301040 |
| _version_ | 1818283096941789184 |
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| author | Jagjit Singh Sidhu Robert Scherrer Glenn Starkman |
| author_facet | Jagjit Singh Sidhu Robert Scherrer Glenn Starkman |
| author_sort | Jagjit Singh Sidhu |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Macroscopic dark matter (macros) refers to a class of dark matter candidates that scatter elastically off of ordinary matter with a large geometric cross-section. A wide range of macro masses MX and cross-sections σX remain unprobed. We show that over a wide region within the unexplored parameter space, collisions of a macro with a human body would result in serious injury or death. We use the absence of such unexplained impacts with a well-monitored subset of the human population to exclude a region bounded by σX>10−8−10−7 cm2 and MX<50 kg. Our results open a new window on dark matter: the human body as a dark matter detector. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-13T00:31:29Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-e3b0da2e9c8145f29af7dd82be5da6e7 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 0370-2693 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-13T00:31:29Z |
| publishDate | 2020-04-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Physics Letters B |
| spelling | doaj.art-e3b0da2e9c8145f29af7dd82be5da6e72022-12-22T00:05:19ZengElsevierPhysics Letters B0370-26932020-04-01803Death and serious injury from dark matterJagjit Singh Sidhu0Robert Scherrer1Glenn Starkman2Physics Department/CERCA/ISO, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH 44106-7079, USA; Corresponding author.Department of Physics & Astronomy, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN 37235, USAPhysics Department/CERCA/ISO, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH 44106-7079, USAMacroscopic dark matter (macros) refers to a class of dark matter candidates that scatter elastically off of ordinary matter with a large geometric cross-section. A wide range of macro masses MX and cross-sections σX remain unprobed. We show that over a wide region within the unexplored parameter space, collisions of a macro with a human body would result in serious injury or death. We use the absence of such unexplained impacts with a well-monitored subset of the human population to exclude a region bounded by σX>10−8−10−7 cm2 and MX<50 kg. Our results open a new window on dark matter: the human body as a dark matter detector.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0370269320301040 |
| spellingShingle | Jagjit Singh Sidhu Robert Scherrer Glenn Starkman Death and serious injury from dark matter Physics Letters B |
| title | Death and serious injury from dark matter |
| title_full | Death and serious injury from dark matter |
| title_fullStr | Death and serious injury from dark matter |
| title_full_unstemmed | Death and serious injury from dark matter |
| title_short | Death and serious injury from dark matter |
| title_sort | death and serious injury from dark matter |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0370269320301040 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT jagjitsinghsidhu deathandseriousinjuryfromdarkmatter AT robertscherrer deathandseriousinjuryfromdarkmatter AT glennstarkman deathandseriousinjuryfromdarkmatter |