Search for dark matter-nucleon interactions via Migdal effect with DarkSide-50

2022/07/25 by The DarkSide-50 Collaboration, :, P. Agnes +142 · 1 voice · 2 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #hep-ex #astro-ph.CO

paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physrevlett.130.101001

arxiv published 2022/07/25 · arxiv updated 2023/02/16

Abstract

Dark matter elastic scattering off nuclei can result in the excitation and ionization of the recoiling atom through the so-called Migdal effect. The energy deposition from the ionization electron adds to the energy deposited by the recoiling nuclear system and allows for the detection of interactions of sub-GeV/c² mass dark matter. We present new constraints for sub-GeV/c² dark matter using the dual-phase liquid argon time projection chamber of the DarkSide-50 experiment with an exposure of (12306 ± 184) kg d. The analysis is based on the ionization signal alone and significantly enhances the sensitivity of DarkSide-50, enabling sensitivity to dark matter with masses down to 40 MeV/c². Furthermore, it sets the most stringent upper limit on the spin independent dark matter nucleon cross section for masses below 3.6 GeV/c².

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Discussions

• New constraints on dark matter interactions with nucleons released today from DarkSide-50, with key contributions from @UoMPhysics and in particular PhD student @sandford_ellen, extend the reach of se [bsky, 0 points, 1 comments]

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