LHC Could Detect Macroscopic Dark Matter Without New Hardware
Physicists propose that macroscopic dark matter objects called axion quark nuggets (AQNs) could generate tiny acoustic shocks near the LHC that disturb dust in the beam screens, triggering the unidentified falling objects (UFOs) seen in the accelerator. They advocate reanalyzing past UFO events and using existing beam-loss monitors to search for a distinctive pattern—three or more correlated events within 2 seconds along the 27-km tunnel—that would indicate an AQN passage. If confirmed, the LHC could serve as a dark-matter detector without hardware changes, with the work slated for Physical Review D.