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Title: Limits on sub-GeV dark matter from the PROSPECT reactor antineutrino experiment

Abstract

If dark matter has mass lower than around 1 GeV, it will not impart enough energy to cause detectable nuclear recoils in many direct-detection experiments. However, if dark matter is upscattered to high energy by collisions with cosmic rays, it may be detectable in both direct-detection experiments and neutrino experiments. We report the results of a dedicated search for boosted dark matter upscattered by cosmic rays, using ~14.6 solar days of data from the PROSPECT reactor antineutrino experiment. We show that such a flux of upscattered dark matter would display characteristic diurnal sidereal modulation, and use this to set new experimental constraints on sub-GeV dark matter exhibiting large interaction cross sections.

Authors:
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Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Brookhaven National Lab. (BNL), Upton, NY (United States); Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States); Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), High Energy Physics (HEP); USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), Office of Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation; Heising-Simons Foundation; National Science Foundation (NSF); Canada First Research Excellence Fund (CFREF); Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC)
Contributing Org.:
PROSPECT Collaboration
OSTI Identifier:
1808348
Alternate Identifier(s):
OSTI ID: 1811448; OSTI ID: 1819548; OSTI ID: 1824755
Report Number(s):
BNL-221923-2021-JAAM; LLNL-JRNL-826459
Journal ID: ISSN 2470-0010; PRVDAQ; 012009
Grant/Contract Number:  
SC0016357; SC0017660; SCW1504; AC52-07NA27344; AC05-00OR22725; SC0012704; SC0016357 SC0017660; SC0017815; SC0008347; SC0016060; RGPIN-418579; PHY-2012955
Resource Type:
Published Article
Journal Name:
Physical Review D
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Name: Physical Review D Journal Volume: 104 Journal Issue: 1; Journal ID: ISSN 2470-0010
Publisher:
American Physical Society
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS; Cosmic rays & astroparticles; Dark matter; Particle dark matter; Dark matter detectors; Neutrino detectors

Citation Formats

Andriamirado, M., Balantekin, A. B., Band, H. R., Bass, C. D., Bergeron, D. E., Bowden, N. S., Bryan, C. D., Classen, T., Conant, A. J., Deichert, G., Diwan, M. V., Dolinski, M. J., Erickson, A., Foust, B. T., Gaison, J. K., Galindo-Uribarri, A., Gilbert, C. E., Hans, S., Hansell, A. B., Heeger, K. M., Heffron, B., Jaffe, D. E., Jayakumar, S., Ji, X., Jones, D. C., Koblanski, J., Kyzylova, O., Lane, C. E., Langford, T. J., LaRosa, J., Littlejohn, B. R., Lu, X., Maricic, J., Mendenhall, M. P., Meyer, A. M., Milincic, R., Mueller, P. E., Mumm, H. P., Napolitano, J., Neilson, R., Nikkel, J. A., Nour, S., Palomino, J. L., Pushin, D. A., Qian, X., Rosero, R., Surukuchi, P. T., Tyra, M. A., Varner, R. L., Venegas-Vargas, D., Weatherly, P. B., White, C., Wilhelmi, J., Woolverton, A., Yeh, M., Zhang, C., Zhang, X., Cappiello, Christopher V., and PROSPECT Collaboration. Limits on sub-GeV dark matter from the PROSPECT reactor antineutrino experiment. United States: N. p., 2021. Web. doi:10.1103/PhysRevD.104.012009.
Andriamirado, M., Balantekin, A. B., Band, H. R., Bass, C. D., Bergeron, D. E., Bowden, N. S., Bryan, C. D., Classen, T., Conant, A. J., Deichert, G., Diwan, M. V., Dolinski, M. J., Erickson, A., Foust, B. T., Gaison, J. K., Galindo-Uribarri, A., Gilbert, C. E., Hans, S., Hansell, A. B., Heeger, K. M., Heffron, B., Jaffe, D. E., Jayakumar, S., Ji, X., Jones, D. C., Koblanski, J., Kyzylova, O., Lane, C. E., Langford, T. J., LaRosa, J., Littlejohn, B. R., Lu, X., Maricic, J., Mendenhall, M. P., Meyer, A. M., Milincic, R., Mueller, P. E., Mumm, H. P., Napolitano, J., Neilson, R., Nikkel, J. A., Nour, S., Palomino, J. L., Pushin, D. A., Qian, X., Rosero, R., Surukuchi, P. T., Tyra, M. A., Varner, R. L., Venegas-Vargas, D., Weatherly, P. B., White, C., Wilhelmi, J., Woolverton, A., Yeh, M., Zhang, C., Zhang, X., Cappiello, Christopher V., & PROSPECT Collaboration. Limits on sub-GeV dark matter from the PROSPECT reactor antineutrino experiment. United States. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.104.012009
Andriamirado, M., Balantekin, A. B., Band, H. R., Bass, C. D., Bergeron, D. E., Bowden, N. S., Bryan, C. D., Classen, T., Conant, A. J., Deichert, G., Diwan, M. V., Dolinski, M. J., Erickson, A., Foust, B. T., Gaison, J. K., Galindo-Uribarri, A., Gilbert, C. E., Hans, S., Hansell, A. B., Heeger, K. M., Heffron, B., Jaffe, D. E., Jayakumar, S., Ji, X., Jones, D. C., Koblanski, J., Kyzylova, O., Lane, C. E., Langford, T. J., LaRosa, J., Littlejohn, B. R., Lu, X., Maricic, J., Mendenhall, M. P., Meyer, A. M., Milincic, R., Mueller, P. E., Mumm, H. P., Napolitano, J., Neilson, R., Nikkel, J. A., Nour, S., Palomino, J. L., Pushin, D. A., Qian, X., Rosero, R., Surukuchi, P. T., Tyra, M. A., Varner, R. L., Venegas-Vargas, D., Weatherly, P. B., White, C., Wilhelmi, J., Woolverton, A., Yeh, M., Zhang, C., Zhang, X., Cappiello, Christopher V., and PROSPECT Collaboration. Fri . "Limits on sub-GeV dark matter from the PROSPECT reactor antineutrino experiment". United States. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.104.012009.
@article{osti_1808348,
title = {Limits on sub-GeV dark matter from the PROSPECT reactor antineutrino experiment},
author = {Andriamirado, M. and Balantekin, A. B. and Band, H. R. and Bass, C. D. and Bergeron, D. E. and Bowden, N. S. and Bryan, C. D. and Classen, T. and Conant, A. J. and Deichert, G. and Diwan, M. V. and Dolinski, M. J. and Erickson, A. and Foust, B. T. and Gaison, J. K. and Galindo-Uribarri, A. and Gilbert, C. E. and Hans, S. and Hansell, A. B. and Heeger, K. M. and Heffron, B. and Jaffe, D. E. and Jayakumar, S. and Ji, X. and Jones, D. C. and Koblanski, J. and Kyzylova, O. and Lane, C. E. and Langford, T. J. and LaRosa, J. and Littlejohn, B. R. and Lu, X. and Maricic, J. and Mendenhall, M. P. and Meyer, A. M. and Milincic, R. and Mueller, P. E. and Mumm, H. P. and Napolitano, J. and Neilson, R. and Nikkel, J. A. and Nour, S. and Palomino, J. L. and Pushin, D. A. and Qian, X. and Rosero, R. and Surukuchi, P. T. and Tyra, M. A. and Varner, R. L. and Venegas-Vargas, D. and Weatherly, P. B. and White, C. and Wilhelmi, J. and Woolverton, A. and Yeh, M. and Zhang, C. and Zhang, X. and Cappiello, Christopher V. and PROSPECT Collaboration},
abstractNote = {If dark matter has mass lower than around 1 GeV, it will not impart enough energy to cause detectable nuclear recoils in many direct-detection experiments. However, if dark matter is upscattered to high energy by collisions with cosmic rays, it may be detectable in both direct-detection experiments and neutrino experiments. We report the results of a dedicated search for boosted dark matter upscattered by cosmic rays, using ~14.6 solar days of data from the PROSPECT reactor antineutrino experiment. We show that such a flux of upscattered dark matter would display characteristic diurnal sidereal modulation, and use this to set new experimental constraints on sub-GeV dark matter exhibiting large interaction cross sections.},
doi = {10.1103/PhysRevD.104.012009},
journal = {Physical Review D},
number = 1,
volume = 104,
place = {United States},
year = {Fri Jul 16 00:00:00 EDT 2021},
month = {Fri Jul 16 00:00:00 EDT 2021}
}

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