First Search for Light Dark Matter in the Neutrino Fog with XENONnT
We search for dark matter (DM) with a mass [3,12] GeV/c^{2} using an exposure of 3.51 tonne year with the XENONnT experiment. We consider spin-independent DM-nucleon interactions mediated by a heavy or light mediator, spin-dependent DM-neutron interactions, momentum-dependent DM scattering, and mirror DM. Using a lowered energy threshold compared to the previous weakly interacting massive particle search, a blind analysis of [0.5, 5.0] keV nuclear recoil events reveals no significant signal excess over the background. XENONnT excludes spin-independent DM-nucleon cross sections >2.5×10^{-45} cm^{2} at 90% confidence level for 6 GeV/c^{2} DM. In the considered mass range, the DM sensitivity approaches the "neutrino fog," the limitation where neutrinos produce a signal that is indistinguishable from that of light DM-xenon nucleus scattering.
Authors
- U Oberlack
- M Zhong (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0003-3671-6369)
- M. Kara (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0004-5080-9446)
- K. Miuchi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1546-7370)
- F. Lombardi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0229-4391)
- G. Plante (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4381-674X)
- K. Martens (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5049-3339)
- V. H. S. Wu
- M Yamashita
- C. Hils (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0002-9309-8184)
- S. Moriyama (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7630-2839)
- Y. Itow (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8198-1968)
- R Hammann
- C. Wittweg (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8494-740X)
- F. Tönnies
- K. Eitel (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5900-0599)
- F. Gao (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1376-677X)
- R. Glade-Beucke (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0006-5455-2232)
- R. Budnik (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1963-9408)
- H. Simgen
- J. Grigat (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0005-4775-0196)
- C. Szyszka
- J. Schreiner (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0008-9029-3092)
- J. Qin (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8228-8949)
- P Shagin (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0003-2423-4311)
- C. Capelli (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3330-621X)
- E. Masson (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5628-8926)
- F Marignetti
- A. Molinario (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5379-7290)
- J. J. Cuenca-García (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3869-7398)
- M. Pierre (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9714-4929)
- L. Althueser (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5468-4298)
- C. Fuselli (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7517-8618)
- E. Angelino (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6695-4355)
- K. Liu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0004-1437-5716)
- A. Kopec (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6548-0963)
- M. Flierman (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3785-7871)
- D Wenz
- L Hoetzsch
- P. Di Gangi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4982-3748)
- A. Bismark (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0574-4303)
- A. Elykov (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2693-232X)
- M. Galloway (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8323-9564)
- M Schumann
- J Jakob (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0000-2220-1418)
- W. Fulgione (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2388-3809)
- J. Loizeau (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6375-9768)
- A. D. Ferella (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6006-9160)
- P Gaemers (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0003-1108-1619)
- D. Xu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7361-9195)
- L Manenti
- M. Iacovacci (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3102-4721)
- K. Morå (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2011-1889)
- M. Guida (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5126-0337)
- R Giacomobono (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6162-1319)
- P Schulte (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0008-9029-3092)
- S. Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0379-1111)
- M. P. Decowski (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1577-6229)
- Q. Pellegrini (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0002-8692-6367)
- Y. Xing (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1866-5188)
- A. Higuera (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9310-2994)
- I. Sarnoff (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4914-4991)
- S. Mastroianni (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9467-0851)
- A. Deisting (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5372-9944)
- J. Masbou (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8089-8639)
- S. Ahmed Maouloud (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0844-4576)
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- A. P. Colijn (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3118-5197)
- J. M. R. Cardoso (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8832-8208)
- M. Selvi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0243-0840)
- E Aprile
- G. Bruno (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9005-2821)
- S. Vecchi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4311-3166)
- A. M. Brown (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0259-3148)
- R. F. Lang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7594-2746)
- G Trinchero
- K. Ni (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2566-0091)
- F Joerg
- D. Thers (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9052-9703)
- V. D’Andrea (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2037-4133)
- N. F. Hood (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2507-7656)
- M. Bazyk (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0000-7986-153X)
- Y Kaminaga (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0006-5424-2867)
- J.M.F. dos Santos (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8841-6523)
- G. Zavattini (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6089-7185)
- T. Marrodán Undagoitia (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9332-6074)
- R. Biondi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6622-8740)
- B. Paetsch (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5025-3976)
- T. R. Pollmann (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1249-6213)
- P. Kavrigin (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0000-1339-2419)
- S Lindemann
- J. A. M. Lopes (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6366-2963)
- D. Antón Martin (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7725-5552)
- T.C. Luce (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0000-0423-1525)
- L. Bellagamba (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7098-9393)
- Y Mosbacher
- F Arneodo
- Ce Cai (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0002-6640-6815)
- C. Tunnell (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8158-7795)
- Jon F. Merz (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0612-7104)
- C Peters
- L. T. Yang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1859-3655)
- A. P. Cimental Chávez (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0004-9605-5985)
- L Baudis
- L. Grandi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0771-7568)
- R. Peres (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5243-2268)
- L Principe (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8752-7694)
- S. el Morabit (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0000-0193-8891)
- M Rajado (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7663-2915)
- T Flehmke (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0002-7944-2671)
- A Melchiorre (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0006-0615-0204)
- S. Ghosh (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6717-0803)
- M. Messina (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6475-7649)
- S. Shi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2445-6681)
- R. Singh
- Michael Lindner (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9697-7577)
- H. Fischer (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9342-7665)
- M. Silva (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1554-9579)
- P.-L. Tan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5743-2520)
- Matthew J. Weiss (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1052-0128)
- Jan Conrad (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9984-4411)
- A. Mancuso (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0002-2018-6095)
- F. Toschi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0007-8336-9207)
- A Michael
- Jianyang Qi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0078-0417)
- C. Macolino (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2517-6574)
- J. Pienaar (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5830-5454)
- K Boese
- H. Landsman (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7570-5238)
- C. Weinheimer
- D Koke (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8887-5527)
- K. Abe
- L. C. Daniel Garcia (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0000-5813-9118)
- I. Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6655-3685)
- H. Schulze Eißing (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0005-9760-4234)
- F. Semeria (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4328-6454)
- J. Mahlstedt (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8514-2037)
- G. Volta (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7351-1459)
- G. Sartorelli (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1910-5948)
- L. Levinson
- S. Diglio (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9340-0534)
- J. Müller (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0007-4572-6146)
- M. Murra (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0008-2608-4472)
- Yajun Ma (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5227-675X)
- K Valerius
- R. Gaïor (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0005-2488-5856)
- L. Scotto Lavina (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3483-8800)
- F. I. Villazon Solar
- L. Escudero Sanchez (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0000-4564-4705)
- Ye J (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6127-2582)
- S. Kazama (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6976-3693)
- A. Takeda (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0003-6003-072X)
- H. Guan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0006-5049-0812)
- J. Shi
- Ming Liu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3177-4001)
- C Di Donato (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0005-9268-6402)
- C. Ferrari (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0838-2328)
- B. Andrieu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0002-6485-4163)
- P Gyorgy (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0005-7616-5762)
- S Vetter (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0001-2961-5274)
- Z. Xu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6720-3094)
- M. Kobayashi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0006-7861-1284)
- Y.-T. Lin (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3631-1655)
- L. Yuan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0024-8017)
- J. Long (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5617-7337)
- Y. Pan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0812-9007)
Institutions
- Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (DE)
- University of Fribourg (CH)
- Stockholm University (SE)
- University of Groningen (NL)
- Chinese University of Hong Kong (HK)
- Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (DE)
- University of Ferrara (IT)
- University of Zurich (CH)
- Purdue University West Lafayette (US)
- University of Münster (DE)
- University of L'Aquila (IT)
- Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso (IT)
- Westlake University (CN)
- University of California San Diego (US)
- Sorbonne Université (FR)
- University of Chicago (US)
- National Institute for Subatomic Physics (NL)
- Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Torino (IT)
- Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Napoli (IT)
- Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Sezione di Bologna (IT)
- Gran Sasso Science Institute (IT)
- Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics (DE)
- Laboratoire Médiations (FR)
- Weizmann Institute of Science (IL)
- New York University (US)
- Nagoya University (JP)
- Kobe University (JP)
- Rice University (US)
- The University of Tokyo (JP)
- University of Coimbra (PT)
- Columbia University (US)
- University of Amsterdam (NL)
- University of Bologna (IT)
- Nantes Université (FR)
- Tsinghua University (CN)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Physical Review Letters
- Published
- 2025-03-20
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevlett.134.111802
- Citations
- 14
- Primary Topic
- Dark Matter and Cosmic Phenomena
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 26.18
Funders
- National Science Foundation
- Kavli Foundation
- University of Chicago
- Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare Sezione di Padova
- European Commission
- Helmholtz-Gemeinschaft
- Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft
- Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung
- Weizmann Institute of Science
- United States-Israel Binational Science Foundation
- Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek
- Knut och Alice Wallenbergs Stiftelse
- Tsinghua University
- Max-Planck-Gesellschaft
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique
- Bundesministerium für Bildung, Wissenschaft, Forschung und Technologie
- Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare
- Instituto Nacional de Ciência e Tecnologia: Física Nuclear e Aplicações
- Conseil Régional des Pays de la Loire
- Horizon 2020 Framework Programme
- Japan Society for the Promotion of Science
- Japan Science and Technology Agency
- Instituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare
- Institut National de Physique Nucléaire et de Physique des Particules
- Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso
- H2020 Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions