Aachen 2019 – scientific programme

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T: Fachverband Teilchenphysik

T 78: Suche nach Neuen Teilchen IV

T 78.6: Talk

Thursday, March 28, 2019, 17:20–17:35, H07

Search for Q-balls with IceCube — •Sarah Pieper for the IceCube collaboration — Bergische Universität Wuppertal, Deutschland

Many field theories include nonlinear, nondissipative solutions, which are stabilised by the existence of a Noether charge. These so called nontopological solitons behave like other standard model particles, as they have a finite shape in space and can travel with a constant velocity. Due to their spherical shape, they are also called Q-balls.

All supersymmetric generalisations of the standard model predict the existence of Q-balls. Produced in the early universe, Q-balls are candidates for cold dark matter. Additionally, they could yield an explanation for the baryon asymmetry in the universe.

Since Q-balls, like magnetic monopoles postulated in Grand Unified Theories, can catalyse nucleon decay, they can be detected by neutrino telescopes. Results for flux limits for non-relativistic magnetic monopoles can therefore be reinterpreted as flux limits for Q-balls. A new calculation of flux limits for Q-balls will be performed using IceCube data. The present status of signal simulations for Q-balls in IceCube will be presented.