121 research outputs found

    Probing sub-GeV mass SIMP dark matter with a low-threshold surface experiment

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    Using data from the ν\nu-cleus detector, based on the surface of the Earth, we place constraints on dark matter in the form of Strongly Interacting Massive Particles (SIMPs) which interact with nucleons via nuclear-scale cross sections. For large SIMP-nucleon cross sections the sensitivity of traditional direct dark matter searches using underground experiments is limited by the energy loss experienced by SIMPs, due to scattering with the rock overburden and experimental shielding on their way to the detector apparatus. Hence a surface-based experiment is ideal for a SIMP search, despite the much larger background, resulting from the lack of shielding. We show using data from a recent surface run of a low-threshold cryogenic detector that values of the SIMP-nucleon cross section up to approximately 102710^{-27} cm2^2 can be excluded for SIMPs with masses above 100 MeV.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figures. v3: Matches version accepted to PR

    US Cosmic Visions: New Ideas in Dark Matter 2017: Community Report

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    This white paper summarizes the workshop "U.S. Cosmic Visions: New Ideas in Dark Matter" held at University of Maryland on March 23-25, 2017.Comment: 102 pages + reference

    Earth-Scattering of super-heavy Dark Matter: updated constraints from detectors old and new

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    Direct searches for Dark Matter (DM) are continuously improving, probing down to lower and lower DM-nucleon interaction cross sections. For strongly-interacting massive particle (SIMP) Dark Matter, however, the accessible cross section is bounded from above due to the stopping effect of the atmosphere, Earth and detector shielding. We present a careful calculation of the SIMP signal rate, focusing on super-heavy DM (mχ105GeVm_\chi \gtrsim 10^5 \,\,\mathrm{GeV}) for which the standard nuclear-stopping formalism is applicable, and provide code for implementing this calculation numerically. With recent results from the low-threshold CRESST 2017 surface run, we improve the maximum cross section reach of direct detection searches by a factor of around 5000, for DM masses up to 108GeV10^8 \,\,\mathrm{GeV}. A reanalysis of the longer-exposure, sub-surface CDMS-I results (published in 2002) improves the previous cross section reach by two orders of magnitude, for masses up to 1015GeV10^{15} \,\,\mathrm{GeV}. Along with complementary constraints from SIMP capture and annihilation in the Earth and Sun, these improved limits from direct nuclear scattering searches close a number of windows in the SIMP parameter space in the mass range 10610^6 GeV to 101310^{13} GeV, of particular interest for heavy DM produced gravitationally at the end of inflation.Comment: 12 pages, 7 figures. Code available at https://github.com/bradkav/verne . Comments welcome. v2: Fixed references and minor typos, corrected "ν\nu-cleus" to "CRESST 2017 surface run". v3: Added Appendix A with explicit expressions and coordinate system. v4: Added discussion of variance in final DM speed. Version published in PR

    Dark sectors 2016 Workshop: community report

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    This report, based on the Dark Sectors workshop at SLAC in April 2016, summarizes the scientific importance of searches for dark sector dark matter and forces at masses beneath the weak-scale, the status of this broad international field, the important milestones motivating future exploration, and promising experimental opportunities to reach these milestones over the next 5-10 years

    LBECA: A Low Background Electron Counting Apparatus for Sub-GeV Dark Matter Detection

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    Two-phase noble liquid detectors, with large target masses and effective background reduction, are currently leading the dark matter direct detection for WIMP masses above a few GeV. Due to their sensitivity to single ionized electron signals, these detectors were shown to also have strong constraints for sub-GeV dark matter via their scattering on electrons. In fact, the most stringent direct detection constraints for sub-GeV dark matter down to as low as ~5 MeV come from noble liquid detectors, namely XENON10, DarkSide-50, XENON100 and XENON1T, although these experiments still suffer from high background at single or a few electron level. LBECA is a planned 100-kg scale liquid xenon detector with significant reduction of the single and a few electron background. The experiment will improve the sensitivity to sub-GeV dark matter by three orders of magnitude compared to the current best constraints.Comment: to appear in the Proceedings of the TAUP 2019 Conferenc

    US Cosmic Visions: New Ideas in Dark Matter 2017: Community Report

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    This white paper summarizes the workshop "U.S. Cosmic Visions: New Ideas in Dark Matter" held at University of Maryland on March 23-25, 2017

    Exploring the Early Universe with Gaia and THEIA

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    It has recently been pointed out that Gaia is capable of detecting a stochastic gravitational wave background in the sensitivity band between the frequency of pulsar timing arrays and LISA. We argue that Gaia and THEIA has great potential for early universe cosmology, since such a frequency range is ideal for probing phase transitions in asymmetric dark matter, SIMP and the cosmological QCD transition. Furthermore, there is the potential for detecting primordial black holes in the solar mass range produced during such an early universe transition and distinguish them from those expected from the QCD epoch. Finally, we discuss the potential for Gaia and THEIA to probe topological defects and the ability of Gaia to potentially shed light on the recent NANOGrav results.Comment: 26 pages, 6 figure

    US Cosmic Visions: New Ideas in Dark Matter 2017: Community Report

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    This white paper summarizes the workshop "U.S. Cosmic Visions: New Ideas in Dark Matter" held at University of Maryland on March 23-25, 2017

    Dark Matter Candidates: A Ten-Point Test

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    An extraordinarily rich zoo of non-baryonic Dark Matter candidates has been proposed over the last three decades. Here we present a 10-point test that a new particle has to pass, in order to be considered a viable DM candidate: I.) Does it match the appropriate relic density? II.) Is it {\it cold}? III.) Is it neutral? IV.) Is it consistent with BBN? V.) Does it leave stellar evolution unchanged? VI.) Is it compatible with constraints on self-interactions? VII.) Is it consistent with {\it direct} DM searches? VIII.) Is it compatible with gamma-ray constraints? IX.) Is it compatible with other astrophysical bounds? X.) Can it be probed experimentally?Comment: 29 pages, 12 figure
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