Search for the Migdal effect in liquid xenon with keV-level nuclear recoils

Xu, J.; Adams, D.; Lenardo, B. G.; Pershing, T.; Mannino, R. L.; Bernard, E.; Kingston, J.; Mizrachi, E.; Lin, J.; Essig, R.; Mozin, V.; Kerr, P.; Bernstein, A.; Tripathi, M.

doi:10.1103/physrevd.109.l051101

Title: Search for the Migdal effect in liquid xenon with keV-level nuclear recoils

Journal Article · 11 March 2024 · Physical Review. D.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevd.109.l051101 · OSTI ID:2322581

^[1]; Adams, D. ^[2]; Lenardo, B. G. ^[3]; Pershing, T. ^[1];

^[1]; Bernard, E. ^[1]; Kingston, J. ^[4];

^[5];

^[6]; Essig, R. ^[2]; Mozin, V. ^[1];

^[1];

^[1]; Tripathi, M. ^[1]

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
Stony Brook Univ., NY (United States)
SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory (SLAC), Menlo Park, CA (United States)
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States); Univ. of California, Davis, CA (United States)
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States); Univ. of Maryland, College Park, MD (United States)
Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States)

The Migdal effect predicts that a nuclear recoil interaction can be accompanied by atomic ionization, allowing many dark matter direct detection experiments to gain sensitivity to sub-GeV masses. We report the first direct search for the Migdal effect for M- and L-shell electrons in liquid xenon using nuclear recoils produced by tagged neutron scatters. Despite an observed background rate lower than that of expected signals in the region of interest, we do not observe a signal consistent with predictions. We discuss possible explanations, including inaccurate predictions for either the Migdal rate or the signal response in liquid xenon. We comment on the implications for direct dark matter searches and future Migdal characterization efforts.

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Research Organization:: Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States); University of California, Berkeley, CA (United States); Stony Brook Univ., NY (United States); SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory (SLAC), Menlo Park, CA (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA); USDOE Office of Science (SC), High Energy Physics (HEP); USDOE Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) Program; United States-Israel Binational Science Foundation (BSF); Simons Foundation

Grant/Contract Number:: AC52-07NA27344; NA0000979; SC0009854; AC02-76F00515; SCW1676; 2016153; 623940; LLNL-JRNL-850170

OSTI ID:: 2322581

Alternate ID(s):: OSTI ID: 2325249

Report Number(s):: LLNL-JRNL-850170; 1076061; TRN: US2409758

Journal Information:: Physical Review. D., Vol. 109, Issue 5; ISSN 2470-0010

Publisher:: American Physical Society (APS)Copyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS
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low-mass dark matter
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dual-phase xenon time projection chamber

Title: Search for the Migdal effect in liquid xenon with keV-level nuclear recoils

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