Solar Corona Heating by the Axion Quark Nugget Dark Matter

Abstract

In this work we advocate for the idea that two seemingly unrelated 80-year-old mysteries - the nature of dark matter and the high temperature of the million degree solar corona - may have resolutions that lie within the same physical framework. The current paradigm is that the corona is heated by nanoflares, which were originally proposed as miniature versions of the observed solar flares. It was recently suggested that the nanoflares could be identified as annihilation events of the nuggets from the Axion Quark Nugget (AQN) dark matter model. This model was invented as an explanation of the observed ratio ${\Omega }_{\mathrm{dark}}\sim {\Omega }_{\mathrm{visible}}$, based only on cosmological and particle physics considerations. In this new paradigm, the AQN particles moving through the coronal plasma and annihilating with normal matter can lead to the drastic change of temperatures seen in the Sun's Transition Region (TR), and significantly contribute to the extreme ultraviolet (EUV) excess of $10^{27}\mathrm{erg}{\mathrm{s}}^{-1}$. To test this proposal, we perform numerical simulations with a realistically modeled AQN particle distribution and explore how the nuggets interact with the coronal plasma. Remarkably, our simulations predict the correct energy budget for the solar corona, and show that the energy injection mostly occurs at an altitude of around 2000 km, which is where the TR lies. Therefore, we propose that these long unresolved mysteries could be two sides of the same coin. We make several predictions based on this proposal, some of which could be tested by the recently launched NASA mission, the Parker Solar Probe.

arXiv comment28 pages, 10 figures, Accepted by Physical Review D

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• Fast Radio Bursts and the Axion Quark Nugget Dark Matter Model
• Antimatter as Macroscopic Dark Matter
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• The mysterious diffuse UV radiation and Axion Quark Nugget dark matter model
• Stratospheric temperature anomalies as imprints from the dark Universe
• Gravitationally bound axions and how one can discover them
• Radio impulsive events in quiet solar corona and Axion Quark Nugget Dark Matter
• Axion Quark Nugget Dark Matter: Time Modulations and Amplifications
• Structure Formation Paradigm and Axion Quark Nugget dark matter model
• DAMA/LIBRA annual modulation and Axion Quark Nugget Dark Matter Model
• Dark matter searches using accelerometer-based networks
• A Proposed Network to Detect Axion Quark Nugget Dark Matter
• The Mysterious Bursts observed by Telescope Array and Axion Quark Nuggets
• Solar radio emissions and ultralight dark matter
• X-ray annual modulation observed by XMM-Newton and Axion Quark Nugget Dark Matter
• The Pierre Auger Exotic Events and Axion Quark Nuggets
• Radiation from cold molecular clouds and Sun chromosphere produced by anti-quark nugget dark matter
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• Electric and magnetic axion quark nuggets, their stability and their detection
• Neutrino emission and initial evolution of axionic quark nuggets
• Ball Lightning as a profound manifestation of the Dark Matter physics
• Neutron Stars as the Dark Matter detectors
• The Glow of Axion Quark Nugget Dark Matter: (IV) CMB Spectral and Anisotropy Signatures