Limits on cold dark matter from the Gotthard Ge experiment

Abstract

Data from a high purity Ge detector operated in the Gotthard underground laboratory, corresponding to 51.6 kg day, were used to set limits on cold dark matter. In particular, Dirac neutrinos with masses between 10 and 2400 GeV are ruled out. A new lower limit on the half-life for the decay of the electron into weakly interacting particles of 1.9 × 10 23 yr at 68% CL was also derived.