Can strangelets be detected in a large LAr neutrino detector?

Abstract

Abstract Predicted as possible bound states of up, down and strange quarks, strangelets could be more energetically favourable and more stable than nuclear matter. In this paper we explore the possibility of detecting such particles with the future large liquid argon detectors developed for neutrino physics. Using signals from ionization and scintillation, as well as measuring the range, we suggest that a calorimetric TPC detector is able to put in evidence and to discriminate between light strangelets and normal isotopes at intermediate energies.