The Pierre Auger exotic events and axion quark nuggets

Abstract

The Pierre Auger observatory have reported (Abreu et al 2021 PoS ICRC2021 p 395; Colalillo 2019 EPJ Web Conf. 197 03003; Colalillo 2017 PoS ICRC2017 p 314) observation of several exotic cosmic ray (CR)-like events which apparently related to thunderstorms. These events are much larger in size than conventional CR events, and they have very distinct timing features. A possible nature of the observed phenomenon is still a matter of active research and debates as many unusual features of these exotic events (EEs) are hard to explain. In particular, the frequency of appearance of these EEs is very low (less than 2 events yr−1), in huge contrast with a typical rate of a conventional lightning strikes in the area. We propose that the observed EEs can be explained within the so-called axion quark nugget (AQN) dark matter model. The idea is that the AQNs may trigger and initiate a special and unique class of lightning strikes during a thunderstorm as a result of ionization of the atmospheric molecules along its path. The corresponding AQN-induced lighting flashes may show some specific features not shared by typical and much more frequent conventional flashes. We support this proposal by demonstrating that the observations (Abreu et al 2021 PoS ICRC2021 p 395; Colalillo 2019 EPJ Web Conf. 197 03003; Colalillo 2017 PoS ICRC2017 p 314), including the frequency of appearance and time duration are consistent with observations. We also comment on possible relation of AUGER EEs with the Telescope Array bursts and the terrestrial gamma ray flashes. We list a number of features of the AQN-induced EEs (such as specific radio pulses synchronized with these events) which can be directly tested by future experiments. We also suggest to use distributed acoustic sensing instruments to detect the acoustic pulses which must be synchronized with AUGER EEs.