The DarkNESS mission: probing dark matter with a Skipper-CCD satellite observatory

Conference · Tue Feb 20 04:00:00 EST 2024 · PoS

DOI:https://doi.org/10.22323/1.441.0062· OSTI ID:2475112

Saffold, Nathan ^[1]; Alpine, Phoenix M. ^[2]; Essig, Rouven ^[3]; Estrada, Juan ^[4]; Kim, Terry ^[1]; Kubik, Donna ^[1]; Lembeck, Michael F. ^[1]

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1. Fermilab
2. Illinois U., Urbana (main)
3. YITP, Stony Brook
4. Fermilab; Chicago U., Astron. Astrophys. Ctr.

The invention of Skipper-CCDs with sub-electron noise has paved the way for groundbreaking low-threshold dark matter (DM) experiments, such as SENSEI and DAMIC. Conventionally, these experiments are deployed underground to mitigate cosmogenic backgrounds; however, some DM signatures are inaccessible to underground experiments due to attenuation in the Earth’s atmosphere and crust. The DarkNESS mission will deploy an array of Skipper-CCDs on a 6U CubeSat in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) to search for electron recoils from strongly-interacting sub-GeV DM as well as X-ray line signatures from sterile neutrino decay. Using a series of observations from LEO, the DarkNESS mission will set competitive upper limits on the DM-electron scattering cross section and help resolve the experimental conundrum associated with the purported observation of a 3.5 keV X-ray line, potentially produced from sterile neutrino decay. This work will describe the DarkNESS instrument, the technical challenges in operating Skipper-CCDs in the space environment, the scientific objectives of the DarkNESS mission, and the DM parameter space that DarkNESS will probe.

• Research Organization: Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (FNAL), Batavia, IL (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Science (SC), High Energy Physics (HEP) (SC-25)
• DOE Contract Number: AC02-07CH11359
• OSTI ID: 2475112
• Report Number(s): FERMILAB-CONF-23-750-PPD-STUDENT; oai:inspirehep.net:2765395
• Conference Information: Journal Name: PoS Journal Volume: TAUP2023
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

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