Narrow Results

We consider Friedberg–Lee–Sirlin Q-balls in a (3+1)-dimensional model with vanishing scalar potential of one of the fields. We show that, unlike in (2+1) and (1+1) dimensions, the Q-ball is stabilized by the gradient energy of this field and carries scalar charge, over and beyond the global charge. The latter property is also inherent in a model with the scalar potential that does not vanish in a finite field region near the origin.

Properties of baryonic matter made of nucleons and $\alpha$-particles are studied within a relativistic mean-field (RMF) model. The Lagrangian describing the relativistic field $\varphi$ of $\alpha$-particles is allowed to contain also self-interaction terms. Various types of RMF parametrizations are employed to calculate the energy of $\alpha$-particles embedded in the baryonic matter. We first consider baryonic systems with small admixtures of $\alpha$-particles and calculate the energy spectrum as a function of baryon density. Then we turn to the case of pure $\alpha$-matter and derive once again the energy spectrum, this time as a function of $\alpha$-particle density, with and without quartic self-interaction. In the second part of the paper, we focus on the ground-state properties (energy per particle, radii of the spherical lumps made of $\alpha$-particles) of charge neutralized Q-balls formed of baryonic $\alpha$-particles for the case of linear $\sigma$ and $\omega$ fields and nonlinear (quartic+sextic) self-interactions of the $\varphi$ field.

We discuss stability of Q-balls interacting with fermions in theory with small coupling constant $g$. We argue that for configurations with large global U(1)-charge $Q$, the problem of classical stability becomes more subtle. For example, in model with flat direction there is maximal value of charge for stable solutions with $Q\sim \frac{1}{g^4}$. This result may be crucial for the self-consistent consideration of Q-ball evaporation into the fermions. We study the origin of additional instability and discuss possible ways to avoid it.

The following sections are included:

• Astroparticle physics and cosmic energy pie
  • Atoms
  • Dark matter
  • Dark energy
• Cosmic history
• A survey of candidates for DM particles
  • WIMP miracle?
• The scope of this volume
• Notation
• References

The searches for classical Magnetic Monopoles (MMs) at accelerators, for GUT Super-heavy MMs in the penetrating cosmic radiation and for Intermediate Mass MMs at high altitudes are discussed. The status of the search for other massive exotic particles such as nuclearites and Q-balls is briefly reviewed.

Different exotic particles have been suggested to be part of the cosmic radiation flux, such as Magnetic Monopoles, Strange Quark Matter, Q-balls in a very wide mass range, from multi-TeV to 10¹⁷ GeV and beyond. The SLIM experiment based on a large array of nuclear track detectors at the Chacaltaya Laboratory (Bolivia) reached the highest sensitivity for Intermediate mass MMs, nuclearites and charged Q-balls. After discussing the experimental procedure, the results obtained by the SLIM: experiment are compared with the sensitivity reachable by future searches with large volume neutrino telescopes and space based experiments.