Axion quark nuggets : a recipe for a glowing Milky Way?
department or school: Science, Faculty of
department or school: Physics and Astronomy, Department of
data provider: DSpace
degree campus: UBCV
creator: Sekatchev, Michael
issued: 2025-04-23T21:11:26Z
issued: 2025
related degree: Master of Science - MSc
degree grantor: University of British Columbia
description: Observations of background radiation in the Milky Way have revealed a puzzling excess of far-ultraviolet (FUV) emission (1350–1750 Å), confirmed by the GALEX space telescope and the New Horizons mission. The origin of this excess remains unexplained by conventional astrophysical sources. This thesis investigates the potential role of the Axion Quark Nugget (AQN) dark matter model in accounting for this mysterious emission. The model proposes that dark matter is dominated by macroscopic composite objects of nuclear density, in the form of matter and antimatter nuggets. Matter (antimatter) AQNs contain quarks (antiquarks) surrounded by an electrosphere (positron-sphere). When antimatter AQNs collide with baryonic matter in the Milky Way, the baryons annihilate leading the AQN to emit a broadband electromagnetic radiation, which includes FUV photons. By simulating these annihilation events within a high-resolution cosmological hydrodynamic model of a Milky Way-like galaxy (the FIRE-2 Latte suite), we estimate the AQN-induced FUV signal. Our analysis reveals that the predicted AQN signal is consistent with the observed FUV excess within the same order of magnitude. More specifically, AQN annihilations can produce an FUV signal of 100–200 photon cm⁻² s⁻¹ sr⁻¹ Å⁻¹ for nugget masses m_AQN ~ 0.1–1 kg, consistent with the excess from GALEX. These findings suggest that AQN-baryon annihilations could provide a viable explanation for the diffuse FUV background and shed light on the nature of dark matter and its interaction with visible matter. We motivate future studies of the broadband AQN emission to probe other Galactic excesses (e.g., X-ray, radio) and cosmological tensions (e.g. reionization).
aggregated CHO: https://circle.library.ubc.ca/rest/handle/2429/90744
note: Axion Quark Nuggets: A Recipe for a Glowing MilkyWay?byMichael SekatchevB.Sc. Honours Physics, Minor in French, University of British Columbia,2019A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENTOF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OFMaster of ScienceinTHE FACULTY OF GRADUATE AND POSTDOCTORALSTUDIES(Physics)The University of British Columbia(Vancouver)April 2025© Michael Sekatchev, 2025The following individuals certify that they have read, and recommend tothe Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies for acceptance, the thesisentitled:Axion Quark Nuggets: A Recipe for a Glowing Milky Way?submitted by Michael Sekatchev in partial fulfillment of the requirementsfor the degree of Master of Science in Physics.Examining Committee:Ariel Zhitnitsky, Professor, Physics and Astronomy, UBCCo-supervisorLudovic Van Waerbeke, Professor, Physics and Astronomy, UBCCo-supervisoriiAbstractObservations of background radiation in the Milky Way have revealed apuzzling excess of far-ultraviolet (FUV) emission (1350–1750 A˚), confirmedby the GALEX space telescope and the New Horizons mission. The originof this excess remains unexplained by conventional astrophysical sources.This thesis investigates the potential role of the Axion Quark Nugget(AQN) dark matter model in accounting for this mysterious emission. Themodel proposes that dark matter is dominated by macroscopic compositeobjects of nuclear density, in the form of matter and antimatter nuggets.Matter (antimatter) AQNs contain quarks (antiquarks) surrounded by anelectrosphere (positron-sphere). When antimatter AQNs collide with bary-onic matter in the Milky Way, the baryons annihilate leading the AQN toemit a broadband electromagnetic radiation, which includes FUV photons.By simulating these annihilation events within a high-resolution cos-mological hydrodynamic model of a Milky Way-like galaxy (the FIRE-2Latte suite), we estimate the AQN-induced FUV signal. Our analysis re-veals that the predicted AQN signal is consistent with the obser…
has type: Thesis/Dissertation
date issued: 2025-05
is shown at: 10.14288/1.0448510
language: eng
degree discipline: Physics
provider: Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
publisher: University of British Columbia
rights: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
rights URI: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
scholar level: Graduate
contributor: Zhitnitsky, Ariel
contributor: Van Waerbeke, Ludovic
type: Text
identifier URI: http://hdl.handle.net/2429/90744