First Direct Detection Limits on sub-GeV Dark Matter from XENON10

2012/06/12 by Rouven Essig, Aaron Manalaysay, Jeremy Mardon +2 · 1 citation
Physics and Astronomy · #astro-ph.CO #hep-ex #hep-ph

paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physrevlett.109.021301

Submitted to PRL

arxiv created 2012/06/12 · arxiv updated 2015/06/05

Abstract

The first direct detection limits on dark matter in the MeV to GeV mass range are presented, using XENON10 data. Such light dark matter can scatter with electrons, causing ionization of atoms in a detector target material and leading to single- or few-electron events. We use 15 kg-days of data acquired in 2006 to set limits on the dark-matter-electron scattering cross section. The strongest bound is obtained at 100 MeV where sigma_e < 3 x 10^-38 cm² at 90% CL, while dark matter masses between 20 MeV and 1 GeV are bounded by sigma_e < 10^-37 cm² at 90% CL. This analysis provides a first proof-of-principle that direct detection experiments can be sensitive to dark matter candidates with masses well below the GeV scale.

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