THE SEARCH FOR FRACTIONAL CHARGE PARTICLES AND VERY MASSIVE PARTICLES IN BULK MATTER

Martin L. Perl, Valerie Halyo, Peter C. Kim, Eric R. Lee, Irwin T. Lee, and Dinesh Loomba Stanford Linear Accelerator Center Stanford University Stanford, CA 94306

Part 1 FREE FRACTIONAL CHARGE ELEMENTARY PARTICLES

Use

f to denote

a fractional charge particle

SEARCH METHODS FOR FREE FRACTIONAL CHARGE ELEMENTARY PARTICLES

Accelerators: Straightforward but limited in mass and uncertain in production cross section. Cosmic Rays : Worth trying but limited in mass and uncertain in production process. Bulk Matter : General method, dependent upon production in early universe. Very large mass range. Our preference.
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F F

FROM EARLY UNIVERSE TO SOLAR SYSTEM

f f f f star f f

f f early universe

fX f fY space

solar system

FRACTIONAL CHARGE PARTICLES CHANGE THE CHEMISTRY OF ATOMS AND MOLECULES

For example, a hydrogen atom with an additional +1/3 f attached to the nucleus has chemical properties similar to fluorine. It is similar to a helium atom with a -1/3 f in a close orbit.* Therefore the significance of searches in bulk matter depends upon the chemical and refining processing history of the material, including geochemical processes.

*K. S. Lackner and G. Zweig, Phys. Rev. D 28, 1671 (1983); K. S. Lackner and G. Zweig, Novel Results in Particle Physics (Am. Inst. Phys., New York,1982)
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WHERE TO SEARCH FOR FRACTIONAL CHARGE PARTICLES IN SOLAR SYSTEM

F F F F

Earth: Accessible now but geochemical processing must be considered. Some ancient minerals of great interest. Meteorites from asteroids : Great interest because come from most primitive material in solar system. Moon : Some special interest but samples scarce. Asteroids: Best search material, either bring back large samples or carry out searches on asteroid.
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SEARCH METHODS IN BULK MATTER

F F

Liquid Drop: The method we use; based on the original Millikan oil drop method. The material may be a liquid, a solution, or a suspension of a mineral or other powder in a liquid. Will describe next. Levitometer: Suspend a ball of material using ferromagnetism or superconductivity. Measure charge by oscillation in 7 electric field.

OUR ORIGINAL LIQUID DROP METHOD

Vertical E field alternating in direction

Drop generator Falling drop just produced

Upper electric plate

Trajectory of falling drop being measured

Image of trajectory of falling drop

Lens Lower electric plate CCD face of video camera. Area of CCD sets field of view of drops

Falling drop already measured

Stroboscopic light source, flashes at t intervals.

Use drops with diameters from 5 to 15 m Once drop generator is set, diameter is constant to 0.1 %
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PHYSICS OF ORIGINAL LIQUID DROP METHOD

Stokes Law Force=6rVterm

Vterm = terminal velocity = viscosity of air r = radius of drop

We determine q and m from:

mg +qE down= 6 rVterm,down mg - qEup = 6 rVterm,up

r = drop radius q =drop electric charge g = acceleration of gravity Eup = electric field when pointed up Edown = electric field when pointed up

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PUBLISHED RESULTS OF LEVITOMETER AND LIQUID DROP SEARCHES IN BULK MATTER

Method superconducting levitometer Experiment LaRue et al. Marinelli et al. ferromagnetic levitometer Smith et al. Jones et al. Joyce et al. liquid drop Savage et al. Mar et al. Material niobium iron niobium meteorite sea water mercury silicone oil Sample Mass (mg) 1.1 3.7 4.9 2.8 0.05 2.0 1.1

No fractional charges claimed except by LaRue et al. Their claim NOT confirmed by Smith et al. 1 mg = 6_1020 nucleons

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OUR NEW UNPUBLISHED SEARCH IN SILICONE OIL

We have just concluded a search through 17 mg of silicone oil. This used 4.1_107 drops of about 10 mm diameter. The charge of each drop was measured with a precision of 1/40 of an electron charge. We found no evidence for fractional charge particles but there is a data point that argues for repeating the experiment with a larger sample. For details see: V. Halyo et al., SLAC-PUB-8283 Submitted to Phys.Rev.Lett. e-Print Archive: hep-ex/9910064

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COMMENTS ON THESE SEARCHES AND NEXT SEARCHES

$ $ $ $

The silicone oil results will be repeated with a larger sample. But the major next step is to study unrefined materials particularly meteorites. We have samples of the Allende meteorite. We will also study fluoraptite, a mineral that collects fluorine-like elements. Sample sizes will be increased.
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OUR NEW HORIZONTAL ELECTRIC FIELD LIQUID DROP METHOD

Uses much larger drops: 20 to 100 m diameter
Drop generator

Vertical electric plates giving horizontal electric field, E

Laminar air flow to reduce vertical terminal velocity of large drops so that they remain in the measuring region

qE = 6rVterm,horizontal

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TWENTY FIVE YEAR GOALS FOR FRACTIONAL CHARGE PARTICLE SEARCH

% Increase sample sizes from

tens of milligrams to tens of grams or even a kilogram.

% Bring large samples from

asteroids or put search apparatus on asteroid.
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Part 2 VERY MASSIVE AND STABLE ELEMENTARY PARTICLES

Consider very massive particle: t produced in early universe, t stable, t charged or bound to charged particle, and t present in solar system.

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LIQUID DROP SEARCH METHOD FOR VERY MASSIVE PARTICLES

1 GeV/c2 = 1.8 10-24 grams Mass of 5 m diameter drop = 10-10 grams therefore Mass of 5 m diameter drop is about 5 1013 GeV/c2

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Stokes Law again: Force=6rVterm

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Drop of mass m falling in air: Vterm(m) = mg/(6r

Drop of mass m falling containing an elementary particle of mass M falling in air: Vterm(m+M) = (m+M)g/(6r)

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drop generator

falling drop being measured

stroboscopic light source drop imaging lens CCD face of video camera used to measure terminal velocity and drop radius via imaging

log dN/dV

v
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v(m)

v(m+M)

LOWER MASS LIMIT ON SEARCH FOR VERY MASSIVE PARTICLES

The lower mass search limit is set by the mass of the smallest mass drops that can be used in a practical search and by the extent of the tails on the v(m) peak. The lower mass search limit is between 1013 and 1014 GeV/c2

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UPPER MASS LIMIT ON SEARCH FOR VERY MASSIVE PARTICLES

The upper mass search limit is set by the requirement that the massive particle be held in ordinary matter by the Coulomb force Fc between the particles charge and the nearby atoms. Estimate Fc = 1 eV/10-10 m = 1.6_10-9 nt On the Earths surface require: Mg < Fc. Therefore the upper mass limit on the Earth is: M < 1.6_10-10 kg = 1017 GeV/c2
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SEARCHING FOR VERY MASSIVE PARTICLES IN METEORITES

$ $ $

Searching for very massive particles in terrestrial minerals is chancy because of the geological history of the earth. The best materials for very massive particle searches are meteorites. We have samples of the Allende meteorite. But there is a problem with the upper mass limit when searching in meteorites. When meteorites enter the atmosphere and slow down the deceleration force may be 100g to 1000g. Therefore the more massive particles will not stay in the meteorite.
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TWENTY FIVE YEAR GOALS FOR VERY MASSIVE PARTICLE SEARCHES

% Develop experimental

method by searching in meteorites and other minerals on Earth. to an asteroid and search on the asteroid. There are many advantages including a larger search range since gasteroid << gearth.
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% Send the search apparatus