New indirect searches of Dark Matter with the GAPS experiment

GAPS Collaboration

doi:10.1393/ncc/i2026-26006-7

New indirect searches of Dark Matter with the GAPS experiment

GAPS Collaboration

Radiation Imaging and Advanced Diagnosti

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

The General AntiParticle Spectrometer (GAPS) is a long-duration ballon-borne experiment, designed to detect low-energy cosmic-ray antinuclei (below ∼ 0.25 GeV/n) as potential indirect signal of Dark Matter. Unlike traditional detection methods —relying for example on magnetic spectrometers— GAPS employs a novel approach based on the formation, de-excitation, and decay of exotic atoms, enabling the identification of antinuclei without the use of a magnet. The mission will investigate the low-energy sector of the cosmic-ray spectrum that has remained largely unexplored, allowing for a critical test of theoretical models predicting the flux of low-energy antideuterons; in addition, GAPS is expected to achieve unprecedented sensitivity to cosmic antiprotons and to provide leading sensitivity to the low-energy antihelium nuclei in the cosmic radiation. During its pre-flight campaign in Antarctica (November/December 2024), the apparatus was able to perform several muon runs for both scientific and calibration purposes. Performance studies related to the detection of this particle population at sea level are currently being conducted before the scheduled launch during the 2025/26 season.

Original language	English
Article number	6
Journal	Nuovo Cimento della Societa Italiana di Fisica C
Volume	49
Issue number	1-2
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1393/ncc/i2026-26006-7
State	Published - Jan 2026

Funding

This work is supported in the U.S. by NASA Astrophysics Research and Analysis GAPS grants (NNX17AB44G, NNX17AB46G, NNX17AB47G, 80NSSC21K1877; PI, C. Hailey), in Japan by JAXA/ISAS Small Science Program FY2017, and in Italy by Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (INFN) and by the Italian Space Agency through the ASI-INFN agreement n. 2018-28-HH.0: “Partecipazione italiana al GAPS — General AntiParticle Spectrometer”. H. Fuke is supported by JSPS KAKENHI grants (JP17H01136, JP19H05198, JP22KK0042, and JP22H00147). K. Perez, G. Bridges, K. Pappas, and S. Vickers are supported by Heising-Simons Foundation awards 2023-4617 and 2025-6055. R. A. Ong receives support from the UCLA Division of Physical Sciences. This work is partially supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science under contract number DE-AC05-00OR22725. Sydney Feldman was supported through the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship under grant 2034835. The contributions of C. Gerrity were supported by NASA under award No. 80NSSC19K1425 of the Future Investigators in NASA Earth and Space Science and Technology (FINESST) program. K. Yee is supported through the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship under grant 2141064. K. Aoyama receives support from JSPS KAKENHI grant JP24K22891. K. Mizukoshi receives support from JSPS KAKENHI grants (JP22K20375 and JP24K17079). S. Okazaki receives support from JSPS KAKENHI grants (JP18K13928 and JP22KK0042). Y. Shimizu receives support from JSPS KAKENHI grants (JP20K04002, JP22KK0042, JP23K03436). M. Xiao, Z. Wu and J. Yang receive support from Yangyang Development Fund. The technical support and advanced computing resources from University of Hawaii Information Technology Services - Research Cyberinfrastructure, funded in part by the National Science Foundation CC* awards #2201428 and #2232862 are gratefully acknowledged. This research was done using services provided by the OSG Consortium [10, 11, 12, 13], which is supported by the National Science Foundation awards #2030508 and #2323298. We express our sincere thanks to the NASA Columbia Scientific Balloon Facility and the National Science Foundation United States Antarctic Program for their professional support throughout the balloon flight preparation. This work is supported in the U.S. by NASA Astrophysics Research and Analysis GAPS grants (NNX17AB44G, NNX17AB46G, NNX17AB47G, 80NSSC21K1877; PI, C. Hailey), in Japan by JAXA/ISAS Small Science Program FY2017, and in Italy by Is-tituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (INFN) and by the Italian Space Agency through the ASI-INFN agreement n. 2018-28-HH.0: “Partecipazione italiana al GAPS — General AntiParticle Spectrometer”. H. Fuke is supported by JSPS KAKENHI grants (JP17H01136, JP19H05198, JP22KK0042, and JP22H00147). K. Perez, G. Bridges, K. Pappas, and S. Vickers are supported by Heising-Simons Foundation awards 2023-4617 and 2025-6055. R. A. Ong receives support from the UCLA Division of Physical Sciences. This work is partially supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science under contract number DE-AC05-00OR22725. Sydney Feldman was supported through the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship under grant 2034835. The contributions of C. Gerrity were supported by NASA under award No. 80NSSC19K1425 of the Future Investigators in NASA Earth and Space Science and Technology (FINESST) program. K. Yee is supported through the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship under grant 2141064. K. Aoyama receives support from JSPS KAK-ENHI grant JP24K22891. K. Mizukoshi receives support from JSPS KAKENHI grants (JP22K20375 and JP24K17079). S. Okazaki receives support from JSPS KAKENHI grants (JP18K13928 and JP22KK0042). Y. Shimizu receives support from JSPS KAK-ENHI grants (JP20K04002, JP22KK0042, JP23K03436). M. Xiao, Z. Wu and J. Yang receive support from Yangyang Development Fund. The technical support and advanced computing resources from University of Hawaii Information Technology Services - Research Cyberinfrastructure, funded in part by the National Science Foundation CC* awards #2201428 and #2232862 are gratefully acknowledged. This research was done using services provided by the OSG Consortium [10, 11, 12, 13], which is supported by the National Science Foundation awards #2030508 and #2323298. We express our sincere thanks to the NASA Columbia Scientific Balloon Facility and the National Science Foundation United States Antarctic Program for their professional support throughout the balloon flight preparation.

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title = "New indirect searches of Dark Matter with the GAPS experiment",

abstract = "The General AntiParticle Spectrometer (GAPS) is a long-duration ballon-borne experiment, designed to detect low-energy cosmic-ray antinuclei (below ∼ 0.25 GeV/n) as potential indirect signal of Dark Matter. Unlike traditional detection methods —relying for example on magnetic spectrometers— GAPS employs a novel approach based on the formation, de-excitation, and decay of exotic atoms, enabling the identification of antinuclei without the use of a magnet. The mission will investigate the low-energy sector of the cosmic-ray spectrum that has remained largely unexplored, allowing for a critical test of theoretical models predicting the flux of low-energy antideuterons; in addition, GAPS is expected to achieve unprecedented sensitivity to cosmic antiprotons and to provide leading sensitivity to the low-energy antihelium nuclei in the cosmic radiation. During its pre-flight campaign in Antarctica (November/December 2024), the apparatus was able to perform several muon runs for both scientific and calibration purposes. Performance studies related to the detection of this particle population at sea level are currently being conducted before the scheduled launch during the 2025/26 season.",

author = "\{GAPS Collaboration\} and L. Volpicelli and K. Aoyama and T. Aramaki and P. Beggs and M. Boezio and Boggs, \{S. E.\} and G. Bridges and V. Bonvicini and D. Campana and E. Everson and L. Fabris and S. Feldman and H. Fuke and F. Gahbauer and C. Gerrity and L. Ghislotti and Hailey, \{C. J.\} and T. Hayashi and A. Kawachi and K. Konoma and M. Kozai and P. Lazzaroni and A. Lowell and M. Manghisoni and M. Martucci and K. Mizukoshi and E. Mocchiutti and B. Mochizuki and K. Munakata and R. Munini and S. Okazaki and Ong, \{R. A.\} and G. Osteria and F. Palma and K. Pappas and K. Perez and F. Perfetto and V. Re and E. Riceputi and F. Rogers and S. Sakamoto and P. Sawant and V. Scotti and Y. Shimizu and R. Sparvoli and A. Stoessl and A. Suraj and A. Tiberio and G. Tytus and E. Vannuccini",

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AU - GAPS Collaboration

AU - Volpicelli, L.

AU - Aoyama, K.

AU - Aramaki, T.

AU - Beggs, P.

AU - Boezio, M.

AU - Boggs, S. E.

AU - Bridges, G.

AU - Bonvicini, V.

AU - Campana, D.

AU - Everson, E.

AU - Fabris, L.

AU - Feldman, S.

AU - Fuke, H.

AU - Gahbauer, F.

AU - Gerrity, C.

AU - Ghislotti, L.

AU - Hailey, C. J.

AU - Hayashi, T.

AU - Kawachi, A.

AU - Konoma, K.

AU - Kozai, M.

AU - Lazzaroni, P.

AU - Lowell, A.

AU - Manghisoni, M.

AU - Martucci, M.

AU - Mizukoshi, K.

AU - Mocchiutti, E.

AU - Mochizuki, B.

AU - Munakata, K.

AU - Munini, R.

AU - Okazaki, S.

AU - Ong, R. A.

AU - Osteria, G.

AU - Palma, F.

AU - Pappas, K.

AU - Perez, K.

AU - Perfetto, F.

AU - Re, V.

AU - Riceputi, E.

AU - Rogers, F.

AU - Sakamoto, S.

AU - Sawant, P.

AU - Scotti, V.

AU - Shimizu, Y.

AU - Sparvoli, R.

AU - Stoessl, A.

AU - Suraj, A.

AU - Tiberio, A.

AU - Tytus, G.

AU - Vannuccini, E.

PY - 2026/1

Y1 - 2026/1

N2 - The General AntiParticle Spectrometer (GAPS) is a long-duration ballon-borne experiment, designed to detect low-energy cosmic-ray antinuclei (below ∼ 0.25 GeV/n) as potential indirect signal of Dark Matter. Unlike traditional detection methods —relying for example on magnetic spectrometers— GAPS employs a novel approach based on the formation, de-excitation, and decay of exotic atoms, enabling the identification of antinuclei without the use of a magnet. The mission will investigate the low-energy sector of the cosmic-ray spectrum that has remained largely unexplored, allowing for a critical test of theoretical models predicting the flux of low-energy antideuterons; in addition, GAPS is expected to achieve unprecedented sensitivity to cosmic antiprotons and to provide leading sensitivity to the low-energy antihelium nuclei in the cosmic radiation. During its pre-flight campaign in Antarctica (November/December 2024), the apparatus was able to perform several muon runs for both scientific and calibration purposes. Performance studies related to the detection of this particle population at sea level are currently being conducted before the scheduled launch during the 2025/26 season.

AB - The General AntiParticle Spectrometer (GAPS) is a long-duration ballon-borne experiment, designed to detect low-energy cosmic-ray antinuclei (below ∼ 0.25 GeV/n) as potential indirect signal of Dark Matter. Unlike traditional detection methods —relying for example on magnetic spectrometers— GAPS employs a novel approach based on the formation, de-excitation, and decay of exotic atoms, enabling the identification of antinuclei without the use of a magnet. The mission will investigate the low-energy sector of the cosmic-ray spectrum that has remained largely unexplored, allowing for a critical test of theoretical models predicting the flux of low-energy antideuterons; in addition, GAPS is expected to achieve unprecedented sensitivity to cosmic antiprotons and to provide leading sensitivity to the low-energy antihelium nuclei in the cosmic radiation. During its pre-flight campaign in Antarctica (November/December 2024), the apparatus was able to perform several muon runs for both scientific and calibration purposes. Performance studies related to the detection of this particle population at sea level are currently being conducted before the scheduled launch during the 2025/26 season.

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DO - 10.1393/ncc/i2026-26006-7

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:105028627520

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JO - Nuovo Cimento della Societa Italiana di Fisica C

JF - Nuovo Cimento della Societa Italiana di Fisica C

IS - 1-2

M1 - 6

ER -

New indirect searches of Dark Matter with the GAPS experiment

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