Telescope array bursts, radio pulses and axion quark nuggets

Telescope array (TA) experiment has recorded Abbasi et al. (Phys Lett A 381(32):2565-2572, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.physleta.2017.06.022, 2017), Okuda (J Phys Conf Ser 1181:012067, https://doi.org/10.1088/1742-6596/1181/1/012067, 2019) several short time bursts of air shower like events. These bursts are very distinct from conventional single showers, and are found to be strongly correlated with lightnings. In our previous work Zhitnitsky (J Phys G 48(6):065201, https://doi.org/10.1088/1361-6471/abd457, arXiv:2008.04325 [hep-ph], 2021) we proposed that these bursts represent the direct manifestation of the dark matter (DM) annihilation events within the so-called axion quark nugget (AQN) model. In the present work we suggest to test this proposal to search for the radio signals in frequency band.. (0.5-200) MHz which must be synchronized with the TA bursts. We argued that the conventional lightning-induced radio emission can be easily discriminated from the AQN-induced radio pulses discussed in this work.

Automated summary

The Telescope Array experiment has recorded several short time bursts of air shower events that are strongly correlated with lightning, possibly representing the direct manifestation of dark matter annihilation events within the axion quark nugget model. This study suggests testing this proposal by searching for radio signals within a specific frequency range, which can be easily discriminated from conventional lightning-induced radio emission.