WIMP Signal Research Articles

Implication of neutrino backgrounds on the reach of next generation dark matter direct detection experiments

As direct dark matter experiments continue to increase in size, they will become sensitive to neutrinos from astrophysical sources. For experiments that do not have directional sensitivity, coherent neutrino scattering (CNS) from several sources represents an important background to understand, as it can almost perfectly mimic an authentic WIMP signal. Here we explore in detail the effect of neutrino backgrounds on the discovery potential of WIMPs over the entire mass range of 500 MeV to 10 TeV. We show that, given the theoretical and measured uncertainties on the neutrino backgrounds, direct detection experiments lose sensitivity to light (~10 GeV) and heavy (~100 GeV) WIMPs with a spin-independent cross section below 10^{-45} cm^2 and 10^{-49} cm^2, respectively.

ArDM: first results from underground commissioning

The Argon Dark Matter experiment is a ton-scale double phase argon Time Projection Chamber designed for direct Dark Matter searches.It combines the detection of scintillation light together with the ionisation charge in order to discriminate the background (electron recoils) from the WIMP signals (nuclear recoils).After a successful operation on surface at CERN, the detector was recently installed in the underground Laboratorio Subterráneo de Canfranc, and the commissioning phase is ongoing.We describe the status of the installation and present first results from data collected underground with the detector filled with gas argon at room temperature.

Search for dark matter in the Sun with the ANTARES neutrino telescope in the CMSSM and mUED frameworks

ANTARES is the first neutrino telescope in the sea. It consists of a three-dimensional array of 885 photomultipliers to collect the Cherenkov light induced by relativistic muons produced in CC interactions of high energy neutrinos. One of the main scientific goals of the experiment is the search for dark matter. We present here the analysis of data taken during 2007 and 2008 to look for a WIMP signal in the Sun. WIMPs are one of the most popular scenarios to explain the dark matter content of the Universe. They would accumulate in massive objects like the Sun or the Galactic Center and their self-annihilation would produce (directly or indirectly) high energy neutrinos detectable by neutrino telescopes. Contrary to other indirect searches (like with gamma rays or positrons), the search for neutrinos in the Sun is free from other astrophysical contributions, so the interpretation of a potential signal in terms of dark matter is much more robust.

A new analysis method for WIMP searches with dual-phase liquid Xe TPCs

A new data analysis method based on physical observables for WIMP dark matter searches with noble liquid Xe dual-phase TPCs is presented. Traditionally, the nuclear recoil energy from a scatter in the liquid target has been estimated by means of the initial prompt scintillation light (S1) produced at the interaction vertex. The ionization charge (C2), or its secondary scintillation (S2), is combined with the primary scintillation in log10(S2/S1) vs. S1 only as a discrimination parameter against electron recoil background. Arguments in favor of C2 as the more reliable nuclear recoil energy estimator than S1 are presented. The new phase space of log10(S1/C2) vs. C2 is introduced as more efficient for nuclear recoil acceptance and exhibiting superior energy resolution. This is achieved without compromising the discrimination power of the LXe TPC, nor its 3D event reconstruction and fiducialization capability, as is the case for analyses that exploit only the ionization channel. Finally, the concept of two independent energy estimators for background rejection is presented: E2 as the primary (based on C2) and E1 as the secondary (based on S1). log10(E1/E2) vs. E2 is shown to be the most appropriate phase space in which to evaluate WIMP signal candidates.

Results from 730 kg days of the CRESST-II Dark Matter search

The CRESST-II cryogenic Dark Matter search, aiming at detection of WIMPs via elastic scattering off nuclei in CaWO4 crystals, completed 730 kg days of data taking in 2011. We present the data collected with eight detector modules, each with a two-channel readout; one for a phonon signal and the other for coincidently produced scintillation light. The former provides a precise measure of the energy deposited by an interaction, and the ratio of scintillation light to deposited energy can be used to discriminate different types of interacting particles and thus to distinguish possible signal events from the dominant backgrounds. Sixty-seven events are found in the acceptance region where a WIMP signal in the form of low energy nuclear recoils would be expected. We estimate background contributions to this observation from four sources: (1) “leakage” from the e/γ-band (2) “leakage” from the α-particle band (3) neutrons and (4) 206Pb recoils from 210Po decay. Using a maximum likelihood analysis, we find, at a statistical significance of more than 4σ, that these sources alone are not sufficient to explain the data. The addition of a signal due to scattering of relatively light WIMPs could account for this discrepancy, and we determine the associated WIMP parameters.

Low-Mass WIMP Sensitivity and Statistical Discrimination of Electron and Nuclear Recoils by Varying Luke-Neganov Phonon Gain in Semiconductor Detectors

Amplifying the phonon signal in a semiconductor dark matter detector can be accomplished by operating at high voltage bias and converting the electrostatic potential energy into Luke-Neganov phonons. This amplification method has been validated at up to |E|=40V/cm without producing leakage in CDMSII Ge detectors, allowing sensitivity to a benchmark WIMP with mass = 8GeV and cross section 1.8e-42cm^2 assuming flat electronic recoil backgrounds near threshold. Furthermore, for the first time we show that differences in Luke-Neganov gain for nuclear and electronic recoils can be used to discriminate statistically between low-energy background and a hypothetical WIMP signal by operating at two distinct voltage biases. Specifically, 99% of events have p-value<1e-8 for a simulated 20kg-day experiment with a benchmark WIMP signal with mass =8GeV and cross section =3.3e-41cm^2.

Neutron Scattering Facility for the Measurement of Light Quenching Factors of Dark Matter Detectors at Low Temperatures

The light yield of scintillating crystals which is quantified by light Quenching Factors (QFs) strongly depends on the kind of interaction in the crystal. For Dark Matter experiments like CRESST the precise knowledge of QFs is crucial for the discrimination of background events from possible WIMP signals. At the tandem accelerator of the Maier-Leibnitz-Laboratorium (MLL) in Garching a low-temperature scattering facility was set up, which in its current phase aims at the determination of the QFs of O, Ca, and W in CaWO4 crystals as used in the CRESST experiment. A CRESST detector module consists of a 300 g CaWO4 target crystal operated as a phonon detector and a separate silicon-on-sapphire (SOS) light detector to detect the corresponding scintillation light simultaneously. In order to disentangle the light yield corresponding to O, Ca and W recoils, monoenergetic neutrons (11 MeV) produced by the accelerator are scattered off an especially developed CRESST-like detector module, which is operated at mK temperatures in a dilution refrigerator. Arrays of liquid-scintillator detectors placed at fixed scattering angles allow one to identify the recoiling nuclei by a neutron time-of-flight measurement. The unique facility is suited for the characterization of different detector materials and will be a powerful tool also for the future multi-material experiment EURECA. We report on the experimental approach, the low-temperature setup and present first results.

Performance of the veto detector incorporated into the ZEPLIN-III experiment

The ZEPLIN-III experiment is operating in its second phase at the Boulby Underground Laboratory in search of dark matter WIMPs. The major upgrades to the instrument over its first science run include lower background photomultiplier tubes and installation of a plastic scintillator veto system. Performance results from the veto detector using calibration and science data in its first six months of operation in coincidence with ZEPLIN-III are presented. With fully automated operation and calibration, the veto system has maintained high stability and achieves near unity live time relative to ZEPLIN-III. Calibrations with a neutron source demonstrate a rejection of 60% of neutron-induced nuclear recoils in ZEPLIN-III that might otherwise be misidentified as WIMPs. This tagging efficiency reduces the expected untagged nuclear recoil background from neutrons during science data taking to a very low rate of ≃0.2 events per year in the WIMP acceptance region. Additionally, the veto detector provides rejection of 28% of γ-ray induced background events, allowing the sampling of the dominant source of background in ZEPLIN-III – multiple scatter γ-rays with rare topologies. Since WIMPs will not be tagged by the veto detector, and tags due to γ-rays and neutrons are separable, this population of multiple scatter events may be characterised without biasing the analysis of candidate WIMP signals in the data.

Neutralino, axion and axino cold dark matter in minimal, hypercharged and gaugino AMSB

Supersymmetric models based on anomaly-mediated SUSY breaking (AMSB) generally give rise to a neutral wino as a WIMP cold dark matter (CDM) candidate, whose thermal abundance is well below measured values. Here, we investigate four scenarios to reconcile AMSB dark matter with the measured abundance: 1. non-thermal wino production due to decays of scalar fields (e.g. moduli), 2. non-thermal wino production due to decays of gravitinos, 3. non-thermal wino production due to heavy axino decays, and 4. the case of an axino LSP, where the bulk of CDM is made up of axions and thermally produced axinos. In cases 1 and 2, we expect wino CDM to constitute the entire measured DM abundance, and we investigate wino-like WIMP direct and indirect detection rates. Wino direct detection rates can be large, and more importantly, are bounded from below, so that ton-scale noble liquid detectors should access all of parameter space for mZ̄1≲500 GeV. Indirect wino detection rates via neutrino telescopes and space-based cosmic ray detectors can also be large. In case 3, the DM would consist of an axion plus wino admixture, whose exact proportions are very model dependent. In this case, it is possible that both an axion and a wino-like WIMP could be detected experimentally. In case 4., we calculate the re-heat temperature of the universe after inflation. In this case, no direct or indirect WIMP signals should be seen, although direct detection of relic axions may be possible. For each DM scenario, we show results for the minimal AMSB model, as well as for the hypercharged and gaugino AMSB models.

Directional detection as a strategy to discover Galactic Dark Matter

Directional detection of Galactic Dark Matter is a promising search strategy for discriminating WIMP events from background. Technical progress on gaseous detectors and read-outs has permitted the design and construction of competitive experiments. However, to take full advantage of this powerful detection method, one need to be able to extract information from an observed recoil map to identify a WIMP signal. We present a comprehensive formalism, using a map-based likelihood method allowing to recover the main incoming direction of the signal and its significance, thus proving its Galactic origin. This is a blind analysis intended to be used on any directional data. Constraints are deduced in the (σn,mχ) plane and systematic studies are presented in order to show that, using this analysis tool, unambiguous Dark Matter detection can be achieved on a large range of exposures and background levels.

Dark matter direct detection in the MSSM with heavy scalars

We explore the dark matter detection prospects in the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model in the scenario where the scalar partners of the fermions and the Higgs particles (except for the Standard-Model-like one) are assumed to be very heavy and are removed from the low-energy spectrum. We analyse the neutralino LSP (χ10) in scenarios where the gaugino mass parameters are universal at the GUT scale and also the case where they are non-universal. This analysis is carried out in the framework of a Xenon-like 100 kg experiment. In general, an important fraction of the parameter space giving rise to the dark matter relic density measured by WMAP can be probed and excluded in the case of not detecting any WIMP. In the opposite case, once a WIMP signal has been found, we show that for a light χ10 which is a higgsino-gaugino mixture it is possible to reconstruct efficiently the mass and the scattering cross-section of the neutralino LSP. Moreover, we show that it is also feasible to put strong constraints over some of the parameters of the Lagrangian, e.g. the higgsino and the gaugino mass parameters.

Consequences of statistical sense determination for WIMP directional detection

We study the consequences of limited recoil sense reconstruction on the number of events required to reject isotropy and detect a WIMP signal using a directional detector. For a constant probability of determining the sense correctly, 3-d readout and zero background, we find that as the probability is decreased from 1.0 to 0.75 the number of events required increases by a factor of a few. As the probability is decreased further the number of events increases sharply, and isotropy can be rejected more easily by discarding the sense information and using axial statistics. This however requires an order of magnitude more events than vectorial data with perfect sense determination. We also consider energy dependent probabilities of correctly measuring the sense. Our main finding is that correctly determining the sense of the abundant, but less anisotropic, low energy recoils is most important.

Measurement of nuclear recoil quenching factors in CaWO4

The CRESST experiment, aiming at the direct detection of WIMPs via nuclear recoils, is currently using scintillating CaWO4 crystals. The WIMP–nucleus cross section for elastic scattering as well as the scintillation efficiency differ considerably for recoils from Ca, W and O in these crystals. Therefore a discriminating detector calibration is essential in order to improve WIMP parameter claims. At the tandem accelerator of the Maier-Leibnitz-Laboratory (MLL) in Garching, Germany, a neutron scattering facility is operated for the determination of the individual quenching factors (QF) in the bulk of a CaWO4 crystal to better understand the detector response to neutron background and a possible WIMP signal. First measurements at room temperature reveal QF(O)=7.8±0.3% (recoil energy 1.0–2.2MeV), QF(Ca)=6.3±1.6% (recoil energy 0.4–1MeV), QF(W)<3.0% (2σ, recoil energy 0.1MeV).

Limits on Spin-Independent Interactions of Weakly Interacting Massive Particles with Nucleons from the Two-Tower Run of the Cryogenic Dark Matter Search

We report new results from the Cryogenic Dark Matter Search (CDMS II) at the Soudan Underground Laboratory. Two towers, each consisting of six detectors, were operated for 74.5 live days, giving spectrum-weighted exposures of 34 (12) kg d for the Ge (Si) targets after cuts, averaged over recoil energies 10-100 keV for a weakly interacting massive particle (WIMP) mass of 60 GeV/c2. A blind analysis was conducted, incorporating improved techniques for rejecting surface events. No WIMP signal exceeding expected backgrounds was observed. When combined with our previous results from Soudan, the 90% C.L. upper limit on the spin-independent WIMP-nucleon cross section is 1.6 x 10(-43) cm2 from Ge and 3 x 10(-42) cm2 from Si, for a WIMP mass of 60 GeV/c2. The combined limit from Ge (Si) is a factor of 2.5 (10) lower than our previous results and constrains predictions of supersymmetric models.

Directional statistics for realistic weakly interacting massive particle direct detection experiments. II. 2D readout

The direction dependence of the WIMP direct detection rate provides a powerful tool for distinguishing a WIMP signal from possible backgrounds. We study the number of events required to discriminate a WIMP signal from an isotropic background for a detector with 2-d readout using nonparametric circular statistics. We also examine the number of events needed to (i) detect a deviation from rotational symmetry, due to flattening of the Milky Way halo and (ii) detect a deviation in the mean direction due to a tidal stream. If the senses of the recoils are measured then of order 20---70 events (depending on the plane of the 2-d readout and the detector location) will be sufficient to reject isotropy of the raw recoil angles at $90%$ confidence. If the senses can not be measured these number increase by roughly 2 orders of magnitude (compared with an increase of 1 order of magnitude for the case of full 3-d readout). The distributions of the reduced angles, with the (time-dependent) direction of solar motion subtracted, are far more anisotropic, however, and if the isotropy tests are applied to these angles then the numbers of events required are similar to the case of 3-d readout. A deviation from rotational symmetry will only be detectable if the Milky Way halo is significantly flattened. The deviation in the mean direction due to a tidal stream is potentially detectable, however, depending on the density and direction of the stream. The meridian plane (which contains the Earth's spin axis) is, for all detector locations, the optimum readout plane for rejecting isotropy. However readout in this plane can not be used for detecting flattening of the Milky Way halo or a stream with direction perpendicular to the galactic plane. In these cases the optimum readout plane depends on the detector location.

Dark matter andBs→μ+μ−with minimal SO10soft SUSY breaking II

We update and extend to larger masses our previous analysis of the MSSM with minimal $SO_{10}$ [MSO$_{10}$SM] soft SUSY breaking boundary conditions. We find a well--defined, narrow region of parameter space which provides the observed relic density of dark matter, in a domain selected to fit precision electroweak data, including top, bottom and tau masses. The model is highly constrained which allows us to make several predictions. We find the light Higgs mass $m_h \leq 121 \pm 3$ GeV and also upper bounds on the mass of the gluino $\mgluino\lsim3.1$ TeV and lightest neutralino $\mchi\lsim450$ GeV. As the CP odd Higgs mass $m_A$ increases, the region of parameter space consistent with WMAP data is forced to larger values of $M_{1/2}$ and smaller values of $m_h$. Hence, we find an upper bound $m_A \lsim 1.3$ TeV. This in turn leads to lower bounds on ${\rm BR}(B_s\to \mu^+ \mu^-) > 10^{-8}$ (assuming minimal flavor violation) and on the dark matter spin independent detection cross section $\sigsip > 10^{-9}$ pb. Finally, we extend our previous analysis to include WIMP signals in indirect detection and find prospects for WIMP detection generally much less promising than in direct WIMP searches.

Improved spin-dependent limits from the PICASSO dark matter search experiment

The PICASSO experiment reports an improved limit for the existence of cold dark matter WIMPs interacting via spin-dependent interactions with nuclei. The experiment is installed in the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory at a depth of 2070 m. With superheated C4F10 droplets as the active material, and an exposure of 1.98±0.19 kg day, no evidence for a WIMP signal was found. For a WIMP mass of 29 GeV/c2, limits on the spin-dependent cross section on protons of σp=1.31 pb and on neutrons of σn=21.5 pb have been obtained at 90% C.L. In both cases, some new parameter space in the region of WIMP masses below 20 GeV/c2 has now been ruled out. The results of these measurements are also presented in terms of limits on the effective WIMP-proton and neutron coupling strengths ap and an.

Directional statistics for realistic weakly interacting massive particle direct detection experiments

The direction dependence of the event rate in WIMP direct detection experiments provides a powerful tool for distinguishing WIMP events from potential backgrounds. We use a variety of (non-parametric) statistical tests to examine the number of events required to distinguish a WIMP signal from an isotropic background when the uncertainty in the reconstruction of the nuclear recoil direction is included in the calculation of the expected signal. We consider a range of models for the Milky Way halo, and also study rotational symmetry tests aimed at detecting non-sphericity/isotropy of the Milky Way halo. Finally we examine ways of detecting tidal streams of WIMPs. We find that if the senses of the recoils are known then of order ten events will be sufficient to distinguish a WIMP signal from an isotropic background for all of the halo models considered, with the uncertainties in reconstructing the recoil direction only mildly increasing the required number of events. If the senses of the recoils are not known the number of events required is an order of magnitude larger, with a large variation between halo models, and the recoil resolution is now an important factor. The rotational symmetry tests require of order a thousand events to distinguish between spherical and significantly triaxial halos, however a deviation of the peak recoil direction from the direction of the solar motion due to a tidal stream could be detected with of order a hundred events, regardless of whether the sense of the recoils is known.

WIMP direct detection: astrophysical input

The WIMP direct detection event rate (and in particular its annual modulation) depends on the local dark matter distribution and also the Earth’s velocity with respect to the Galactic rest frame. I discuss the effect of these astrophysical inputs on the expected WIMP signals, focussing on exclusions limits and the size and phase of the annual modulation signal.

Feasibility study of a ZnWO4 scintillator for exploiting materials signature in cryogenic WIMP dark matter searches

The mass number dependence of the WIMP–nucleus scattering offers a method for identifying a true WIMP signal over a neutron background. In this Letter we present a study on using a combination of ZnWO4 and CaWO4 absorbers to exploit this materials signature for WIMP detection. Using monochromatic X-ray radiation we examined the temperature variation of the luminescence properties for both materials and showed that at low temperature (8 K) ZnWO4 exhibits ∼10% higher light yield than CaWO4. Analysis of relevant optical properties indicates that ZnWO4 is a suitable cryogenic scintillator. We show that already modest exposure in the region of ∼5 kg yr should allow the detection of WIMP interaction for cross sections at the level of current experimental sensitivities. The combination of these two tungstates could form the basis of the first multi-target detector capable of WIMP identification through materials signature.