Dark Matter Detection Research Articles

New approaches to dark matter detection

New approaches to dark matter detection

Three-year annual modulation search with COSINE-100

COSINE-100 is a direct detection dark matter experiment that aims to test DAMA/LIBRA's claim of dark matter discovery by searching for a dark matter-induced annual modulation signal with NaI(Tl) detectors. We present new constraints on the annual modulation signal from a dataset with a 2.82 yr livetime utilizing an active mass of 61.3 kg, for a total exposure of 173 kg$\cdot$yr. This new result features an improved event selection that allows for both lowering the energy threshold to 1 keV and a more precise time-dependent background model. In the 1-6 keV and 2-6 keV energy intervals, we observe best-fit values for the modulation amplitude of 0.0067$\pm$0.0042 and 0.0051$\pm$0.0047 counts/(day$\cdot$kg$\cdot$keV), respectively, with a phase fixed at 152.5 days.

Inelastic charged-current interactions of supernova neutrinos in two-phase liquid xenon dark matter detectors

It is known that neutrinos from supernova (SN) bursts can potentially give rise to nuclear recoil (NR) signals arising from the neutral current (NC) process of coherent elastic neutrino-nucleus scattering ($\mathrm{CE}\ensuremath{\nu}\mathrm{NS}$) interactions of the neutrinos with xenon nuclei in future, large (multiton scale) liquid xenon (LXe) detectors employed for dark matter searches, depending on the SN progenitor mass and distance to the SN. In this paper, we show that the same detectors will also be sensitive to inelastic charged-current (CC) interactions of the SN electron neutrinos (${\ensuremath{\nu}}_{e}\mathrm{CC}$) with xenon nuclei. Such interactions, while creating an electron in the final state, also leave the postinteraction target nucleus in an excited state, the subsequent deexcitation of which produces, among other particles, $\ensuremath{\gamma}$ rays and neutrons. The electron and deexcitation $\ensuremath{\gamma}$ rays will give ``electron recoil'' (ER) type signals, while the deexcitation neutrons---the so-called ``neutrino-induced neutrons'' (${\ensuremath{\nu}}_{e}\mathrm{In}$)---produce, through their multiple scattering on the xenon nuclei, further xenon nuclear recoils that will also give NR signals (in addition to those produced through the $\mathrm{CE}\ensuremath{\nu}\mathrm{NS}$ interactions). We discuss the observable scintillation and ionization signals associated with SN neutrino-induced $\mathrm{CE}\ensuremath{\nu}\mathrm{NS}$ and ${\ensuremath{\nu}}_{e}\mathrm{CC}$ events in a generic LXe detector and argue that upcoming, sufficiently large LXe detectors should be able to detect both these types of events due to neutrinos from reasonably close-by SN bursts. We also note that since the total CC-induced ER and NR signals receive contributions predominantly from ${\ensuremath{\nu}}_{e}\mathrm{CC}$ interactions while the $\mathrm{CE}\ensuremath{\nu}\mathrm{NS}$ contribution comes from NC interactions of all six species of neutrinos, identification of the ${\ensuremath{\nu}}_{e}\mathrm{CC}$ and $\mathrm{CE}\ensuremath{\nu}\mathrm{NS}$ origin events may offer the possibility of extracting useful information about the distribution of the total SN explosion energy going into different neutrino flavors.

TeV Dark Matter Searches in the Extragalactic Gamma-ray Sky

High-energetic gamma rays from astrophysical targets constitute a unique probe for annihilation or decay of heavy particle dark matter (DM). After several decades, diverse null detections have resulted in strong constraints for DM particle masses up to the TeV scale. While the gamma-ray signature is expected to be universal from various targets, uncertainties of astrophysical origin strongly affect and weaken the limits. At the same time, spurious signals may originate from non-DM related processes. The many gamma-ray targets in the extragalactic sky being searched for DM play a crucial role to keep these uncertainties under control and to ultimately achieve an unambiguous DM detection. Lately, a large progress has been made in combined analyses of TeV DM candidates towards different targets by using data from various instruments and over a wide range of gamma-ray energies. These approaches not only resulted in an optimal exploitation of existing data and an improved sensitivity, but also helped to level out target- and instrument-related uncertainties. This review gathers all searches in the extragalactic sky performed so far with the space-borne Fermi-Large Area Telescope, the ground-based imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes, and the High-Altitude Water Cherenkov Gamma-Ray Observatory (HAWC). We discuss the different target classes and provide a complete list of all analyses so far.

Detector Array Readout with Traveling Wave Amplifiers

Reducing noise to the quantum limit over a large bandwidth is a fundamental requirement for future applications operating at millikelvin temperatures, such as the neutrino mass measurement, the next-generation X-ray observatory, the CMB measurement, the dark matter and axion detection, and the rapid high-fidelity readout of superconducting qubits. The read out sensitivity of arrays of microcalorimeter detectors, resonant axion-detectors, and qubits, is currently limited by the noise temperature and bandwidth of the cryogenic amplifiers. The Detector Array Readout with Traveling Wave Amplifiers project has the goal of developing high-performing innovative traveling wave parametric amplifiers with a high gain, a high saturation power, and a quantum-limited or nearly quantum-limited noise. The practical development follows two different promising approaches, one based on the Josephson junctions and the other one based on the kinetic inductance of a high-resistivity superconductor. In this contribution, we present the aims of the project, the adopted design solutions and preliminary results from simulations and measurements.

Accelerating Earth-bound dark matter

A fraction of the dark matter may consist of a particle species that interacts much more strongly with the Standard Model than a typical weakly interacting massive particle (WIMP) of similar mass. Such a strongly interacting dark matter component could have avoided detection in searches for WIMP-like dark matter through its interactions with the material in the atmosphere and the Earth that slow it down significantly before reaching detectors underground. These same interactions can also enhance the density of a strongly interacting dark matter species near the Earth's surface to well above the local galactic dark matter density. In this work, we propose two new methods of detecting strongly interacting dark matter based on accelerating the enhanced population expected in the Earth through scattering. The first approach is to use underground nuclear accelerator beams to upscatter the ambient dark matter population into a WIMP-style detector located downstream. In the second technique, dark matter is upscattered with an intense thermal source and detected with a low-threshold dark matter detector. We also discuss potential candidates for strongly interacting dark matter, and we show that the scenario can be naturally realized with a hidden fermion coupled to a sub-GeV dark photon.

Analysis of direct and indirect detection of fermionic dark matter of 6-dimensional effective field theory

We present an analysis of fermionic dark matter (DM) in the context of 6-dimensional Effective Field Theory (EFT). We also compared the result generated via 6-dimensional EFT analysis with the current experimental results for dark matter searches. These experiments are methodically categorized as direct and indirect searches and present some constraints on dark matter model parameters of 6-dimensional EFT. We constructed a new set of tools ensuring DM researches in various platforms. The model parameters are presented to guide DM production in colliders by taking account of the upper limits at direct and indirect searches. In this paper, we apply our approach for fermionic case to test the verification of the method. There are various types of search methods for DM, each depends on type of interaction of dark matter with SM particles. Finally we analyzed fermionic DM candidate of 6-dimensional Effective Field Theory (EFT) at the platforms of DM searches. A new set of numerical tools is specified for 6-dimensional fermionic DM model, and these tools are also tested.

Hadrophilic light dark matter from the atmosphere

Light sub-GeV dark matter (DM) constitutes an underexplored target, beyond the optimized sensitivity of typical direct DM detection experiments. We comprehensively investigate hadrophilic light DM produced from cosmic-ray collisions with the atmosphere. The resulting relativistic DM, originating from meson decays, can be efficiently observed in variety of experiments, such as XENON1T. We include for the first time decays of η, η′ and K+ mesons, leading to improved limits for DM masses above few hundred MeV. We incorporate an exact treatment of the DM attenuation in Earth and demonstrate that nuclear form factor effects can significantly impact the resulting testable DM parameter space. Further, we establish projections for upcoming experiments, such as DARWIN, over a wide range of DM masses below the GeV scale.

Prospects for a local detection of dark matter with future missions to Uranus and Neptune

Aims. We investigate the possibility of detecting the gravitational influence of dark matter (DM) on the trajectory of prospective Doppler-ranging missions to Uranus and Neptune. In addition, we estimate the constraints such a mission can provide on modified and massive gravity theories via extra-precession measurements using orbiters around the ice giants. Methods. We employed Monte Carlo-Markov chain methods to reconstruct fictitious spacecraft trajectories in a simplified solar system model with varying amounts of DM. We characterise the noise on the Doppler link by the Allan deviation σA, scaled on the Cassini-era value of σACass = 3 × 10−15. Additionally, we compare the precision of prospective extra-precession measurements of Uranus and Neptune with the expected rates from simulations in the context of modifications to the inverse square law. Results. We estimate that the prospective mission will be sensitive to DM densities of the order of ρDM ∼ 9 × 10−20(σA/σACass) kg m−3, while the 1σ bound on the expected galactic density of ρDM ∼ 5 × 10−22 kg m−3 decreases as 1.0 × 10−20(σA/σACass)0.8 kg m−3. An improvement of two to three orders of magnitude from the baseline Allan deviation would guarantee a local detection of DM. Only a moderate reduction in ranging noise is required to rule out Milgrom’s interpolating function with solar system based observations, and improve constraints the graviton mass beyond current local-based or gravitational wave-based measurements. Our analysis also highlights the potential of future ranging missions to improve measurements of the standard gravitational parameters in the solar system. Conclusions. We believe that a ranging mission to Uranus and Neptune also presents a unique opportunity for non-planetary science. The noise improvements required to guarantee a local detection of dark matter in the early 2040s are realistic, provided they become one of the priorities during mission development.

Using scientific-grade CCDs for the direct detection of dark matter with the DAMIC-M experiment

The DAMIC-M [1] project is devoted to the exploration of the hidden sector and the search for light dark matter particles using Charge-Coupled Devices (CCDs). It follows the DAMIC at SNOLAB [2] experiment which pioneered the detection of new particles through their interaction with the nucleus or the electrons of the bulk silicon of fully depleted CCDs. A kilogram-sized target mass will be installed at the Modane underground laboratory (LSM, France) which offers an excellent low background environment for rare-event search. DAMIC-M detectors demonstrate several technological advancements including the implementation of the skipper technique, and custom front-end control and read-out electronics. Skipper CCDs can perform multiple non-destructive measurements of the pixel charge which can lead to a read-out noise of a fraction of an electron. With a 15 μm × 15 μm pixel area, 675 μm thickness and the ability of 3D reconstruction using the diffusion of the particle track, the spatial resolution of our CCDs allows for the follow-up of radioactive chains, a powerful tool to discriminate genuine particle interaction from in situ radioactive decays. Together with an extremely careful fabrication procedure that controls the contaminant and the generation of bulk radioactive contamination by cosmic ray spallation, the single electron resolution will guarantee a detection energy threshold of only a few eVs, pushing the sensitivity of DAMIC-M by at least one order of magnitude better than previous experiments. I will present the current status of DAMIC-M describing our technological challenges and the solutions we have adopted. I will introduce our method to measure and mitigate the bulk radioactive contamination and discuss the ongoing assembly of a prototype detector, the Low Background Chamber (LBC), aiming at validating our design options.

Probing WIMPs in space-based gravitational wave experiments

Although searches for dark matter have lasted for decades, no convincing signal has been found without ambiguity in underground detections, cosmic ray observations, and collider experiments. We show by example that gravitational wave (GW) observations can be a supplement to dark matter detections if the production of dark matter follows a strong first-order cosmological phase transition. We explore this possibility in a complex singlet extension of the standard model with CP symmetry. We demonstrate three benchmarks in which the GW signals from the first-order phase transition are loud enough for future space-based GW observations, for example, BBO, U-DECIGO, LISA, Taiji, and TianQin. While satisfying the constraints from the XENON1T experiment and the Fermi-LAT gamma-ray observations, the dark matter candidate with its mass around ∼1 TeV in these scenarios has a correct relic abundance obtained by the Planck observations of the cosmic microwave background radiation.

Light Dark Matter Detection with Hydrogen-Rich Targets and Low-$$T_c$$ TES Detectors

Direct detection of nuclear scatterings of sub-GeV dark matter (DM) particles favors low-Z nuclei. Hydrogen nucleus, which has a single proton, provides the best kinematic match. The characteristic nuclear recoil energy is boosted by a factor of a few tens from those for larger nuclei used in traditional Weakly Interacting Massive Particles searches. Furthermore, hydrogen is optimal for detecting spin-dependent nuclear scatterings of sub-GeV DM, where large parameter space still remains unconstrained yet. In this paper, we first introduce several hydrogen-rich targets, which emit two classes of signals under kinetic excitations. One class of the signals is infrared photons, which are from fundamental vibrational and rotational modes of molecules and at several characteristic wavelengths. Another is acoustic phonons and optical phonons that decay into acoustic phonons. We then discuss the technical status and future researches of low-\(T_c\) transition-edge sensor (TES) detectors, which measure the infrared photons and acoustic phonons with desirable sensitivities. Utilization of hydrogen-rich targets and ultra-sensitive low-\(T_c\) TES detectors for light DM detection requires both theoretical modeling and experimental prototyping.

Using scientific-grade CCDs for the direct detection of dark matter with the DAMIC-M experiment

The DAMIC-M (Dark matter in CCDs at Modane) experiment, successor of DAMIC at SNOLAB (Sudbury Neutrino Observatory laboratory), is devoted to the search for dark matter (DM) candidates interacting with the electrons or the nuclei of the bulk silicon of fully depleted Charge-Coupled Devices (CCDs). A kilogram-sized target mass will be installed at the Modane underground laboratory which offers an excellent low background environment for rare-event searches. The implementation of the Skipper readout allows for multiple non-destructive pixel charge measurements, reaching a readout noise of a fraction of an electron. This perfect performance in terms of charge resolution can be limited by the radioactive background and the noise introduced by the external electronics. Much effort is put into the protection of the silicon from contamination by cosmic ray spallation, careful choice of the materials to support and shield the CCDs, and development of a new acquisition system with fast and sensitive electronics for the control and readout of a CCD. All these advancements will push the detection threshold down to a few eVs, improving the sensitivity of DAMIC-M by at least one order of magnitude with respect to previous experiments. I will present the current status of DAMIC-M describing our technological challenges and the solutions we have adopted, and introduce the ongoing assembly of a prototype detector, the Low Background Chamber, aiming at validating our final design options and produce the first scientific results.

The Recent Progress of Dark Matter Detection and State-of-art Detectors

Dark matter is likely to be the main component of the universe, but it doesn’t belong to any part of known substances, which make up the visible celestial bodies. Although dark matter has not been observed directly, there is a large quantity of evidence showing that dark matter does exist. This paper showed several typical candidates and evidence for dark matter and analysed their limitations, including WIMPs, axion, and PBHs. With respect to detection method, Migdal’s effect is used as an example for direct detection and MAGIC telescope for indirect detection. For the observation evidence, the rotation curves, galaxy clusters, and cosmic microwave background are chosen as evidence. According to the analysis, though no dark matter has been already searched till now, it is believed that some promising candidates, (e.g., primordial black holes) exist in the universe. These results shed light on the future research for the property and formation mechanism for dark matter.

Dark matter detectors as a novel probe for light new physics

We explore the prospect of constraining light mediators at the next generation direct detection dark matter detectors through coherent elastic neutrino-nucleus scattering ($\mathrm{CE}\ensuremath{\nu}\mathrm{NS}$) and elastic neutrino-electron scattering ($\mathrm{E}\ensuremath{\nu}\mathrm{ES}$) measurements. Taking into account various details like the quenching factor corrections, atomic binding effects, realistic backgrounds, detection efficiency, energy resolution, etc., we consider two representative scenarios regarding detector specifications. For both scenarios, we obtain the model-independent projected sensitivities for all possible Lorentz-invariant interactions, namely, scalar ($S$), pseudoscalar ($P$), vector ($V$), axial vector ($A$), and tensor ($T$). For the case of vector interactions, we also focus on two concrete examples: the well-known $U(1{)}_{B\ensuremath{-}L}$ and $U(1{)}_{{L}_{\ensuremath{\mu}}\ensuremath{-}{L}_{\ensuremath{\tau}}}$ gauge symmetries. For all interaction channels $X={S,P,V,A,T}$, our results imply that the upcoming dark matter detectors have the potential to place competitive constraints, improved by about 1 order of magnitude compared to existing ones from dedicated $\mathrm{CE}\ensuremath{\nu}\mathrm{NS}$ experiments, XENON1T, beam dump experiments, and collider probes.

Detecting beyond the standard model interactions of solar neutrinos in low-threshold dark matter detectors

As low-threshold dark matter detectors advance in development, they will become sensitive to recoils from solar neutrinos which opens up the possibility to explore neutrino properties. We predict the enhancement of the event rate of solar neutrino scattering from Beyond the Standard Model interactions in low-threshold DM detectors, with a focus on silicon, germanium, gallium arsenide, xenon, and argon-based detectors. We consider a set of general neutrino interactions, which fall into five categories: the neutrino magnetic moment as well as interactions mediated by four types of mediators (scalar, pseudoscalar, vector, and axial vector), and consider coupling these mediators to either quarks or electrons. Using these predictions, we place constraints on the mass and couplings of each mediator and the neutrino magnetic moment from current low-threshold detectors like SENSEI, Edelweiss, and SuperCDMS, as well as projections relevant for future experiments such as DAMIC-M, Oscura, Darwin, and ARGO. We find that such low-threshold detectors can improve current constraints by up to two orders of magnitude for vector mediators and one order of magnitude for scalar mediators.

TeV scale modified type-II seesaw mechanism and dark matter in a gauged U(1)B−L symmetric model

In an endeavor to explain the light neutrino masses and dark matter (DM) simultaneously, we study a gauged $U(1{)}_{\mathrm{B}\ensuremath{-}\mathrm{L}}$ extension of the standard model (SM). The neutrino masses are generated through a variant of type-II seesaw mechanism in which one of the scalar triplets has a mass in a scale that is accessible at the present generation colliders. Three SM singlet right chiral fermions ${\ensuremath{\chi}}_{iR}$ ($i=e$, $\ensuremath{\mu}$, $\ensuremath{\tau}$) with $\mathrm{B}\ensuremath{-}\mathrm{L}$ charges $\ensuremath{-}4$, $\ensuremath{-}4$, $+5$ are invoked to cancel the $\mathrm{B}\ensuremath{-}\mathrm{L}$ gauge anomalies and the lightest one among these three fermions becomes a viable DM candidate as their stability is guaranteed by a remnant ${\mathcal{Z}}_{2}$ symmetry to which $U(1{)}_{\mathrm{B}\ensuremath{-}\mathrm{L}}$ gauge symmetry gets spontaneously broken. Interestingly in this scenario, the neutrino mass and the coannihilation of DM are interlinked through the breaking of $U(1{)}_{\mathrm{B}\ensuremath{-}\mathrm{L}}$ symmetry. Apart from giving rise to the observed neutrino mass and dark matter abundance, the model also predicts exciting signals at the colliders. Especially we see a significant enhancement in the production cross section of the TeV scale doubly charged scalar in presence of the ${Z}_{\mathrm{BL}}$ gauge boson. We discuss all the relevant constraints on model parameters from observed DM abundance and null detection of DM at direct and indirect search experiments as well as the constraints on the $\mathrm{B}\ensuremath{-}\mathrm{L}$ gauge boson from recent colliders.

(g − 2)e, μ and strongly interacting dark matter with collider implications

The quest for new physics beyond the Standard Model is boosted by the recently observed deviation in the anomalous magnetic moments of muon and electron from their respective theoretical prediction. In the present work, we have proposed a suitable extension of the minimal Lμ − Lτ model to address these two experimental results as the minimal model is unable to provide any realistic solution. In our model, a new Yukawa interaction involving first generation of leptons, a singlet vector like fermion (χ±) and a scalar (either an SU(2)L doublet {Phi}_4^{prime } or a complex singlet {Phi}_4^{prime } ) provides the additional one loop contribution to ae only on top of the usual contribution coming from the Lμ− Lτ gauge boson (Zμτ) to both electron and muon. The judicious choice of Lμ − Lτ charges to these new fields results in a strongly interacting scalar dark matter in mathcal{O} (MeV) range after taking into account the bounds from relic density, unitarity and self interaction. The freeze-out dynamics of dark matter is greatly influenced by 3 → 2 scatterings while the kinetic equilibrium with the SM bath is ensured by 2 → 2 scatterings with neutrinos where Zμτ plays a pivotal role. The detection of dark matter is possible directly through scatterings with nuclei mediated by the SM Z bosons. Moreover, our proposed model can also be tested in the upcoming e+e− colliders by searching opposite sign di-electron and missing energy signal i.e. at the final state.

Muon track reconstruction in a segmented bolometric array using multi-objective optimization

Recent advances in segmented solid-state detector arrays for rare-event searches have allowed the technology to approach the ton-scale in detector mass and the scale of meters in size. Often focused around searches for neutrinoless double-beta decay or direct dark matter detection, such experiments also have the capability to search for exotic particles that leave track-like signatures across their volume. However, the segmented nature of such detector arrays often sets the spatial resolution and makes the problem of reconstructing track-like paths non-trivial. In this paper, we present an algorithm that improves reconstruction of track-like events in segmented detectors using multi-objective optimization — a computational technique that optimizes more than one cost function at a time without specifying a quantitative weighting between them. Such a technique allows the reconstruction of tracks through a detector and the determination of path-lengths through individual elements. When combined with the reconstructed energy depositions in each element this allows for a calculation of the stopping power of track-like particles and opens the door to searches for particles with abnormal stopping power like monopoles or lightly-ionizing particles (LIPs). Results are presented which evaluate the precision of the reconstruction tools as they currently stand against Monte Carlo generated data. The algorithm is presented in the context of the CUORE experiment, but has applications to other segmented calorimeter detectors.

Biaxially Textured YBa2Cu3O7−x Microwave Cavity in a High Magnetic Field for a Dark-Matter Axion Search

In the search for axion dark matter, superconducting rf technology is important for fabricating microwave cavities with high $Q$ factors, but the presence of a strong external magnetic field leads to technical difficulties. This study presents a polygonal design with tapes of high-temperature superconductor to realize a superconducting resonant cavity that shows no considerable degradation in magnetic fields up to 8 Tesla. This approach could impact engineering solutions to improve dark-matter detection and other research areas requiring low cavity loss in a strong magnetic field.