Abstract
The Dark Matter Time Projection Chamber (DMTPC) is a low pressure (75 Torr CF4) 10 liter detector capable of measuring the vector direction of nuclear recoils with the goal of directional dark matter detection. In this Letter we present the first dark matter limit from DMTPC from a surface run at MIT. In an analysis window of 80–200 keV recoil energy, based on a 35.7 g-day exposure, we set a 90% C.L. upper limit on the spin-dependent WIMP-proton cross section of 2.0×10−33 cm2 for 115 GeV/c2 dark matter particle mass.
Highlights
Despite strong astrophysical evidence that dark matter comprises approximately 23% of our universe [1], the nature of this dark matter remains largely unknown
This paper presents the first dark matter limit from the Dark Matter Time Projection Chamber (DMTPC) directional detection experiment, from a surface run at MIT
We evaluate the probability that events passing the nuclear recoil selection cuts come from an isotropic background vs. anisotropic Weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs)-induced recoil angle distribution
Summary
Despite strong astrophysical evidence that dark matter comprises approximately 23% of our universe [1], the nature of this dark matter remains largely unknown. Direct WIMP detection experiments search for the interaction of WIMPs with a nucleus in the detector, resulting in low-energy nuclear recoils [4]. Most experiments seek to detect the kinetic energy deposited by the recoiling nucleus; a handful of recent efforts, including this work, seek to detect the direction of the nuclear recoil, and in this way, infer the direction of incoming WIMPs [5,6,7,8,9,10,11]. The arrival direction of WIMPs is predicted to peak in the direction opposite to the earth’s motion around the galactic center in the simplest dark matter halo model, and have a time-varying asymmetry because the Earth’s rotation gives angular modulation in time [12]. This paper presents the first dark matter limit from the DMTPC directional detection experiment, from a surface run at MIT
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