Experiments on the Electron Impact Excitation of the 2s and 2p States of Hydrogen Atoms Confirm the Presence of Their Second Flavor as the Candidate for Dark Matter

Abstract

For the excitation of the n = 2 states of hydrogen atoms due to electron impact, we compared the experimental and theoretical ratios of the cross-sections σ2s/σ2p. We found this theoretical ratio to be systematically higher than the corresponding experimental ratio by about 20%—far beyond the experimental error margins. We suggest that this discrepancy can be explained by the presence of the Second Flavor of Hydrogen Atoms (SFHA) in the experimental hydrogen gas. The explanation is based on the fact that, in the experiments, the cross-section σ2s was determined by using the quenching technique—by applying an electric field that mixed the 2s and 2p states, followed by the emission of the Lyman-alpha line from the 2p state. However, the SFHA only had the s-states, so the quenching technique would not count the excitation of the SFHA in the 2s state and, thus, lead to the underestimation of the cross-section σ2s. We estimates the share of the SFHA in the experimental hydrogen gas required for eliminating the above discrepancy and found this share to be about the same as the share of the usual hydrogen atoms. Thus, our results constitute the third proof from atomic experiments that the SFHA does exist, the first proof being related to the experimental distribution of the linear momentum in the ground state of hydrogen atoms, and the second proof being related to the experimental cross-section of charge exchange between hydrogen atoms and low-energy protons.