New constraints on cosmic ray-boosted dark matter from the LUX-ZEPLIN experiment

Abstract

While dual-phase xenon time projection chambers (TPCs) have driven the sensitivity towards weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs) at the GeV/c^2 to TeV/c^2 mass scale, the scope for sub-GeV/c^2 dark matter particles is hindered by a limited nuclear recoil energy detection threshold. One approach to probe for lighter candidates is to consider cases where they have been boosted by collisions with cosmic rays in the Milky Way, such that the additional kinetic energy lifts their induced signatures above the nominal threshold. In this Letter, we report first results of a search for cosmic ray-boosted dark matter (CRDM) with a combined 4.2 tonne-year exposure from the LUX-ZEPLIN (LZ) experiment. We observe no excess above the expected backgrounds and establish world-leading constraints on the spin-independent CRDM-nucleon cross section as small as 3.9 * 10^{-33} cm^2 at 90% confidence level for sub-GeV/c^2 masses.

References in corpus (73)

• The Structure of Cold Dark Matter Halos
• Particle Dark Matter: Evidence, Candidates and Constraints
• Asymptotic formulae for likelihood-based tests of new physics
• Dark Matter Search Results from a One Tonne$\times$Year Exposure of XENON1T
• Results from a search for dark matter in the complete LUX exposure
• Propagation of cosmic-ray nucleons in the Galaxy
• Rotation Curves of Spiral Galaxies
• Production and propagation of cosmic-ray positrons and electrons
• First Dark Matter Search Results from the LUX-ZEPLIN (LZ) Experiment
• First Results from the XENON10 Dark Matter Experiment at the Gran Sasso National Laboratory
• WIMP dark matter candidates and searches - current status and future prospects
• Light Dark Matter Search with Ionization Signals in XENON1T
• The non-gravitational interactions of dark matter in colliding galaxy clusters
• First Dark Matter Search with Nuclear Recoils from the XENONnT Experiment
• Nucleon Electromagnetic Form Factors
• Dark Matter Search Results from the PICO-60 C${}_3$F${}_8$ Bubble Chamber
• Novel direct detection constraints on light dark matter
• Dark matter and the early Universe: a review
• DarkSide-50 532-day Dark Matter Search with Low-Radioactivity Argon
• Search for Light Dark Matter Interactions Enhanced by the Migdal effect or Bremsstrahlung in XENON1T
• The LUX-ZEPLIN (LZ) Experiment
• Light Dark Matter at Neutrino Experiments
• Fog on the horizon: a new definition of the neutrino floor for direct dark matter searches
• Results of a Search for Sub-GeV Dark Matter Using 2013 LUX Data
• Solution of heliospheric propagation: unveiling the local interstellar spectra of cosmic ray species
• Results from the Super Cryogenic Dark Matter Search (SuperCDMS) experiment at Soudan
• Muon simulation codes MUSIC and MUSUN for underground physics
• Constraints on Spin-Independent Nucleus Scattering with sub-GeV Weakly Interacting Massive Particle Dark Matter from the CDEX-1B Experiment at the China Jin-Ping Laboratory
• Strong New Limits on Light Dark Matter from Neutrino Experiments
• Reverse Direct Detection: Cosmic Ray Scattering With Light Dark Matter
• Search for Light Dark Matter-Electron Scatterings in the PandaX-II Experiment
• Constraints on inelastic dark matter from XENON10
• Dark Matter Search Results from 1.54 Tonne$\cdot$Year Exposure of PandaX-4T
• Emission of Single and Few Electrons in XENON1T and Limits on Light Dark Matter
• Inference of the Local Interstellar Spectra of Cosmic Ray Nuclei Z<=28 with the GalProp-HelMod Framework
• Results on Low-Mass Weakly Interacting Massive Particles from an 11 kg-day Target Exposure of DAMIC at SNOLAB
• First results from the DEAP-3600 dark matter search with argon at SNOLAB
• Bounds on Cosmic Ray-Boosted Dark Matter in Simplified Models and its Corresponding Neutrino-Floor
• SENSEI: First Direct-Detection Results on sub-GeV Dark Matter from SENSEI at SNOLAB
• Maximizing Direct Detection with Highly Interactive Particle Relic Dark Matter
• Direct detection and complementary constraints for sub-GeV dark matter
• Search for light dark matter with ionization signals in the PandaX-4T Experiment
• (Not as) Big as a Barn: Upper Bounds on Dark Matter-Nucleus Cross Sections
• A Search for the Cosmic Ray Boosted Sub-GeV Dark Matter at the PandaX-II Experiment
• Production and attenuation of cosmic-ray boosted dark matter
• Limits on the spin-dependent WIMP-nucleon cross-sections from the first science run of the ZEPLIN-III experiment
• Three-year annual modulation search with COSINE-100
• Neutrino experiments probe hadrophilic light dark matter
• Phase space mass bound for fermionic dark matter from dwarf spheroidal galaxies
• A search for new physics in low-energy electron recoils from the first LZ exposure
• Diurnal Effect of Sub-GeV Dark Matter Boosted by Cosmic Rays
• Constraints on sub-GeV dark matter boosted by cosmic rays from the CDEX-10 experiment at the China Jinping Underground Laboratory
• Limits on Sub-GeV Dark Matter from the PROSPECT Reactor Antineutrino Experiment
• Discrimination of electronic recoils from nuclear recoils in two-phase xenon time projection chambers
• Search for Cosmic-ray Boosted Sub-GeV Dark Matter using Recoil Protons at Super-Kamiokande
• Simulations of Events for the LUX-ZEPLIN (LZ) Dark Matter Experiment
• Constraining light dark matter upscattered by ultrahigh-energy cosmic rays
• Background Determination for the LUX-ZEPLIN (LZ) Dark Matter Experiment
• No room to hide: implications of cosmic-ray upscattering for GeV-scale dark matter
• Cosmic-ray dark matter confronted by constraints on new light mediators
• Early Results on Radioactive Background Characterization for Sanford Laboratory and DUSEL Experiments
• Bounds on boosted dark matter from direct detection: The role of energy-dependent cross sections
• Search for inelastic scattering of WIMP dark matter in XENON1T
• First Search for Light Dark Matter in the Neutrino Fog with XENONnT
• Search for Light Dark Matter in Low-Energy Ionization Signals from XENONnT
• Azimuthal asymmetry in cosmic-ray boosted dark matter flux
• A Review of NEST Models for Liquid Xenon and Exhaustive Comparison to Other Approaches
• Prospects for Light Dark Matter Searches at Large-Volume Neutrino Detectors
• A Liquid Scintillation Detector for Radioassay of Gadolinium-Loaded Liquid Scintillator for the LZ Outer Detector
• Two-neutrino double electron capture of ${}^{124}$Xe in the first LUX-ZEPLIN exposure
• Directional Sensitivity of the NEWSdm Experiment to Cosmic Ray Boosted Dark Matter
• The Design, Implementation, and Performance of the LZ Calibration Systems
• Measurements and models of enhanced recombination following inner-shell vacancies in liquid xenon

Cited by in corpus (3)

• Dark Secrets of Baryons: Illuminating Dark Matter-Baryon Interactions with JWST
• Search for New Physics via Low-Energy Electron Recoils with a 4.2 Tonne\times Year Exposure from the LZ Experiment
• Torsion Balance Experiments Enable Direct Detection of Sub-eV Dark Matter