Dark sectors in neutron-shining-through-a-wall and nuclear-absorption signals

Journal Article · 26 April 2023 · Physical Review. D.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevd.107.075034 · OSTI ID:1971572

Hostert, Matheus ^[1]; McKeen, David ^[2]; Pospelov, Maxim ^[3]; Raj, Nirmal  ^[4]

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1. University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN (United States); Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, Waterloo, ON (Canada)
2. TRIUMF, Vancouver, BC (Canada)
3. University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN (United States)
4. Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru (India)

We propose new searches for n', a dark baryon that can mix with the Standard Model neutron. We show that IsoDAR, a proposal to place an intense cyclotron near a large-volume neutrino detector deep underground, can look for n → n' → n transitions with much lower backgrounds than surface experiments. This opportune neutron-shining-through-a-wall search would be possible without any modifications to the primary goals of the experiment and would provide the strongest laboratory constraints on the n – n' mixing for a wide range of mass splitting. We also consider dark neutrons as dark matter and show that their nuclear absorption at deep-underground detectors such as SNO and Borexino places some of the strongest limits in parameter space. Finally, we describe other n' signatures, such as neutrons shining through walls at spallation sources, reactors, and the disappearance of ultracold neutrons.

• Research Organization: Univ. of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE
• Grant/Contract Number: SC0011842; DESC0011842
• OSTI ID: 1971572
• Alternate ID(s): OSTI ID: 2234259
• Journal Information: Physical Review. D., Vol. 107, Issue 7; ISSN 2470-0010
• Publisher: American Physical Society (APS)Copyright Statement
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English