First Constraint on Atmospheric Millicharged Particles with the LUX-ZEPLIN Experiment

We report on a search for millicharged particles (mCPs) produced in cosmic ray atmospheric interactions using data collected during the first science run of the LUX-ZEPLIN experiment. The mCPs produced by two processes-meson decay and proton bremsstrahlung-are considered in this study. This search utilized a novel signature unique to liquid xenon (LXe) time projection chambers, allowing sensitivity to mCPs with masses ranging from 10 to 1000 MeV/c^{2} and fractional charges between 0.001 and 0.02 of the electron charge (e). With an exposure of 60 live days and a 5.5 metric ton fiducial mass, we observed no significant excess over background. This represents the first experimental search for atmospheric mCPs and the first search for mCPs using an underground LXe experiment.

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Journal
Physical Review Letters
Published
2025-05-19
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1103/zhs9-65ds
Primary Topic
Dark Matter and Cosmic Phenomena
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00

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article

First Constraint on Atmospheric Millicharged Particles with the LUX-ZEPLIN Experiment

L. Kreczko, J. W. Bargemann, M. Yeh, K. J. Palladino et al.
Physical Review Letters
Dark Matter and Cosmic Phenomena
article

First Constraint on Atmospheric Millicharged Particles with the LUX-ZEPLIN Experiment

L. Kreczko, J. W. Bargemann, M. Yeh, K. J. Palladino, C. E. Dahl, J. D. Morales Mendoza, V. Velan, J E Armstrong, D. Q. Huang, E. Hartigan-O’Connor, A. K. Al Musalhi, Tyler Anderson, W. Zha, J. Lin, C. A. J. Brew, Apurna Ghosh, F. Alder, H. J. Birch, S. Shaw, V. N. Solovov, E. D. Fraser, G. Pereira, N. Parveen, R. Gibbons, R. L. Mannino, Gary L. McDowell, R. Smith, D. Yeum, H. Chen, T. Pershing, R. J. Gaitskell, Joseph B McLaughlin, M. Arthurs, B. J. Mount, E. Morrison, D. Khaitan, P. Sorensen, S. Kravitz, E. Jacquet, Z. Tong, C. Ding, L. Korley, V. A. Kudryavtsev, E. Mizrachi, N. Fieldhouse, John M. DelGaudio, D. Hunt, M.A. Hernández, D. Kodroff, D. Santone, M. Murdy, C. Hall, J. Johnson, S. Balashov, M. Szydagis, A. Fan, D. Woodward, Erin Bishop, W. J. Wisniewski, C. Levy, E. A. Zweig, J. Genovesi, A. Biekert, A. Wang, J. E. Y. Dobson, E. Druszkiewicz, J. J. Haiston, F. L. H. Wolfs, B. Suerfu, J. Xu, H. Flaecher, D. S. Akerib, A. Cottle, C. Lu, B. Boxer, C. A. Rhyne, M. C. Carmona-Benitez, M. Trask, R. Kirk, R. W. Schnee, B. Kim, S. A. Hertel, S. Han, I. Olcina, E. Perry, Ruben Coronel, K. Wild, L. de Viveiros, J. Tranter, S. J. Patton, R. S. James, Alexander A. Baker, S. Fiorucci, I. Lopes, J. McLaughlin, M. Williams, D. Rynders, Huaqiao Zhang, K. T. Lesko, J. J. Wang, Levi John Wolf, Q. Xia, D. N. McKinsey, J. J. Silk, J. Palmer, Chris J. Wright, D. S. Leonard, Y. Wang, N. Angelides, J. Aalbers, J. Kingston, H. S. Riyat, H. N. Nelson, A. Nguyen, F. Neves, Edwin L. Ritchey, Q. Riffard, M. Pyle, A. Kamaha, T. Hall, C. Silva, M. Timalsina, G. R. C. Rischbieter, S. Dey, G. M. Blockinger, A. Bhatti, Theophilus Benson, M. V. Converse, S. Woodford, K. Beattie, N. I. Chott, T. Fruth, C. S. Amarasinghe, A. C. Kaboth, A. B. M. R. Sazzad, A. C. Vaitkus, Y. D. Kim, T. Rushton, H. M. Araújo, N. M. Fearon, A. Geffre, T. P. Biesiadzinski, M. E. Monzani, A. Monte, P. Brás, S. J. Haselschwardt, D. Bauer, A. Manalaysay, M. Tripathi, A. Lindote, C. Maupin, M. Horn, I. Stancu, S. Burdin, A. Chawla, J. Green, S. Dubey, A. St. J. Murphy, S. R. Eriksen, Sandeep S. Davé, M. Buuck, C. Ghag, T. J. Sumner, W. Lorenzon, W. H. Lippincott, A. Ames, L. Weeldreyer, N. J. Pannifer, G. J. Homenides, R. McMonigle, E. E. Barillier, J. Siniscalco, O. Valentino, L. Di Felice, M. Kannichankandy, Y. Xu, J. Soria, M. McCarthy, S. Luitz, C. L. O’Brien, K. Y. Oyulmaz, Simon Fayer, G. Sehr, A. Naylor, K. C. Oliver-Mallory, I. Khurana, A. David, J. J. Cherwinka, H. Kraus, E. V. Korolkova, D. R. Tovey, K. Stifter, J. Orpwood, A. Vacheret, A. Stevens, J. R. Watson, P. A. Majewski, A. Piepke, J. Reichenbacher, D. R. Tiedt, T. Shutt, G. Sinev, G. A. Cox, M. G. D. van der Grinten, A. Richards, Y. T. Chin, A. Khazov, T. J. Whitis, S. Gokhale, J. Bang, D. Curran, B.D. Shafer, G. Heuermann, M. Carter, A. Usón, Y. Qie, R. Rosero, C. Lawes, I. Darlington
article en

Abstract

We report on a search for millicharged particles (mCPs) produced in cosmic ray atmospheric interactions using data collected during the first science run of the LUX-ZEPLIN experiment. The mCPs produced by two processes-meson decay and proton bremsstrahlung-are considered in this study. This search utilized a novel signature unique to liquid xenon (LXe) time projection chambers, allowing sensitivity to mCPs with masses ranging from 10 to 1000 MeV/c^{2} and fractional charges between 0.001 and 0.02 of the electron charge (e). With an exposure of 60 live days and a 5.5 metric ton fiducial mass, we observed no significant excess over background. This represents the first experimental search for atmospheric mCPs and the first search for mCPs using an underground LXe experiment.

Physical Review LettersVol. 134(24)
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (US), Rutherford Appleton Laboratory (GB), The University of Sydney (AU), Pennsylvania State University (US), Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (US), University of Wisconsin–Madison (US), University of Liverpool (GB), Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (US), University of California, Los Angeles (US), University of Alabama (US), John Brown University (US), King's College London (GB), South Dakota School of Mines and Technology (US), Brookhaven National Laboratory (US), University of Zurich (CH), University of Michigan (US), Vatican Secret Archives (VA), SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory (US), University of California System (US), University of Bristol (GB), University at Albany, State University of New York (US), University of Oxford (GB), Universidad de Londres (MX), South Dakota Science and Technology Authority (US), University College London (GB), Imperial College London (GB), University of Rochester (US), University of Maryland, College Park (US), Black Hills State University (US), University of Coimbra (PT), The University of Texas at Austin (US), University of Sheffield (GB), Stanford University (US), University of Edinburgh (GB)
National Science Foundation, U.S. Department of Energy, Brown University, Brasenose College, University of Oxford, UK Research and Innovation, Australian Government, Imperial College London, University College London, Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung, Universität Zürich, Institute for Basic Science, Science and Technology Facilities Council, Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia
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