Abstract
The COHERENT Collaboration searched for scalar dark matter particles produced at the Spallation Neutron Source with masses between 1 and 220 MeV/c2 using a CsI[Na] scintillation detector sensitive to nuclear recoils above 9 keVnr. No evidence for dark matter is found and we thus place limits on allowed parameter space. With this low-threshold detector, we are sensitive to coherent elastic scattering between dark matter and nuclei. The cross section for this process is orders of magnitude higher than for other processes historically used for accelerator-based direct-detection searches so that our small, 14.6 kg detector significantly improves on past constraints. At peak sensitivity, we reject the flux consistent with the cosmologically observed dark-matter concentration for all coupling constants αD<0.64, assuming a scalar dark-matter particle. We also calculate the sensitivity of future COHERENT detectors to dark-matter signals which will ambitiously test multiple dark-matter spin scenarios.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 051803 |
| Journal | Physical Review Letters |
| Volume | 130 |
| Issue number | 5 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Feb 3 2023 |
Funding
The COHERENT Collaboration acknowledges the Kavli Institute at the University of Chicago for CsI[Na] detector contributions. We are very grateful for helpful conversations with P. deNiverville, B. Dutta, D. Kim, L. Strigari, and A. Thompson for determining our scattering model. The COHERENT Collaboration acknowledges the resources generously provided by the Spallation Neutron Source, a DOE Office of Science User Facility operated by the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. This work was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Office of Science, Office of High Energy Physics and Office of Nuclear Physics; the National Science Foundation; the Consortium for Nonproliferation Enabling Capabilities; the Consortium for Monitoring Technology and Verification, the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation (Project “Fundamental properties of elementary particles and cosmology” No. 0723-2020-0041); the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (Project 20-02-00670_a); and the U.S. DOE Office of Science Graduate Student Research (SCGSR) program, administered for DOE by the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education which is in turn managed by Oak Ridge Associated Universities. Sandia National Laboratories is a multi-mission laboratory managed and operated by National Technology and Engineering Solutions of Sandia LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Honeywell International Inc., for the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration under Contract No. DE-NA0003525. The Triangle Universities Nuclear Laboratory is supported by the U.S. Department of Energy under Grant No. DE-FG02-97ER41033. Laboratory Directed Research and Development funds from Oak Ridge National Laboratory also supported this project. This research used the Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility, which is a DOE Office of Science User Facility.
| Funders | Funder number |
|---|---|
| SCGSR | |
| U.S. DOE Office of Science Graduate Student Research | |
| National Science Foundation | |
| U.S. Department of Energy | |
| Office of Science | |
| National Nuclear Security Administration | DE-NA0003525, DE-FG02-97ER41033 |
| High Energy Physics | |
| Nuclear Physics | |
| Oak Ridge Associated Universities | |
| Oak Ridge National Laboratory | |
| Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education | |
| Sandia National Laboratories | |
| Russian Foundation for Basic Research | 20-02-00670_a |
| Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation | 0723-2020-0041 |