N ov 1 99 5 A search for stable strange quark matter nuggets in helium

A search for stable strange quark nuggets has been conducted in helium and argon using a high sensitivity mass spectrometer. The search was guided by a mass formula for strange quark nuggets which suggested that stable strange helium might exist at a mass around 65 u. The chemical similarity of such “strangelets” to noble gas atoms and the gravitational unboundedness of normal helium result in a large enhancement in the sensitivity of such a search. An abundance limit of no more than 2 · 10−11 strangelets per normal nucleus is imposed by our search over a mass region from 42 to 82 u, with much more stringent limits at most (non-integer) masses.