Searching for a dark matter particle with anti-protonic atoms

Abstract

Abstract A wide range of dark matter candidates have been proposed and are actively being searched for in a large number of experiments, both at high (TeV) and low (sub meV) energies. One dark matter candidate, a deeply bound uuddss sexaquark, $$S$$ S , with mass $$\sim 2$$ ∼ 2 GeV (having the same quark content as the hypothesized H-dibaryon, but long lived) is particularly difficult to explore experimentally. In this paper, we propose a scheme in which such a state could be produced at rest through the formation of $$\bar{p}$$ p ¯ – $$^3$$ 3 He antiprotonic atoms and their annihilation into $$S$$ S + $$K^+K^+\pi ^-$$ K + K + π - , identified both through the unique tag of a $$S=+2, Q=+1$$ S = + 2 , Q = + 1 final state, as well as through full kinematic reconstruction of the final state recoiling against it.