New Constraints on Cosmic Ray-Boosted Dark Matter from the LUX-ZEPLIN Experiment

While dual-phase xenon time projection chambers have driven the sensitivity toward weakly interacting massive particles 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 metric ton/yr exposure from the LUX-ZEPLIN 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.

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Journal
Physical Review Letters
Published
2025-05-30
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1103/nr92-jvt3
Citations
3
Primary Topic
Dark Matter and Cosmic Phenomena
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
5.61

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article

New Constraints on Cosmic Ray-Boosted Dark Matter from the LUX-ZEPLIN Experiment

J. W. Bargemann, M. Yeh, K. J. Palladino, C. E. Dahl et al.
3 citations
Physical Review Letters
Dark Matter and Cosmic Phenomena
5.61
article

New Constraints on Cosmic Ray-Boosted Dark Matter from the LUX-ZEPLIN Experiment

J. W. Bargemann, M. Yeh, K. J. Palladino, C. E. Dahl, J. Kim, D. S. Akerib, J E Armstrong, E. Hartigan-O’Connor, A. K. Al Musalhi, Tyler Anderson, W. Zha, L. Kreczko, J. Lin, 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, M. Arthurs, T. Pershing, R. J. Gaitskell, V. Velan, Joseph B McLaughlin, B. J. Mount, D. Q. Huang, E. Morrison, D. R. Tiedt, E. Jacquet, Z. Tong, C. Ding, S. Kravitz, C. Ghag, L. Korley, D. N. McKinsey, V. Kudryavtsev, Jin-Long Xu, P. A. Majewski, E. Mizrachi, N. Fieldhouse, John M. DelGaudio, D. Hunt, M.A. Hernández, D. Kodroff, D. Santone, A. Chawla, M. Murdy, C. Hall, S. Balashov, A. C. Kamaha, S. Woodford, M. Szydagis, A. Fan, D. Woodward, Erin Bishop, W. J. Wisniewski, C. Levy, Anthony C. Swain, A. Biekert, A. Wang, J. E. Y. Dobson, E. Druszkiewicz, J. J. Haiston, F. L. H. Wolfs, B. Suerfu, H. Flaecher, A. Cottle, B. Boxer, M. C. Carmona-Benitez, M. Trask, R. Kirk, R. W. Schnee, S. A. Hertel, S. Han, I. Olcina, Ruben Coronel, K. Wild, L. de Viveiros, S. J. Patton, R. S. James, Alexander A. Baker, I. Lopes, J. McLaughlin, M. Williams, D. Rynders, Huaqiao Zhang, K. T. Lesko, G. Cox, J. J. Wang, Levi John Wolf, Q. Xia, J. J. Silk, Chris J. Wright, D. S. Leonard, Y. Wang, N. Angelides, J. Kingston, H. S. Riyat, H. N. Nelson, A. Nguyen, M. V. Converse, C. Brew, F. Neves, Edwin L. Ritchey, T. Hall, C. Silva, J. Tranter, J. Genovesi, M. Timalsina, G. R. C. Rischbieter, S. Dey, G. M. Blockinger, A. Bhatti, Theophilus Benson, P. Sorensen, K. Beattie, N. I. Chott, B. Penning, 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, P. Brás, S. J. Haselschwardt, A. Manalaysay, E. Perry, A. Lindote, C. Maupin, M. Horn, I. Stancu, S. Burdin, J. Green, S. Dubey, Chih-Ting Lu, A. St. J. Murphy, S. R. Eriksen, Sandeep S. Davé, M. Buuck, D. Khaitan, 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. Shi, K. Y. Oyulmaz, G. Sehr, K. C. Oliver-Mallory, A. David, J. D. Palmer, J. J. Cherwinka, H. Kraus, D. R. Tovey, K. Stifter, J. Orpwood, A. Stevens, J. R. Watson, A. Piepke, J. Reichenbacher, E. V. Korolkova, M. Tripathi, T. Shutt, M. G. D. van der Grinten, C. Rhyne, 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, S. Fiorucci, C. Lawes, I. Darlington, Karl J. Friston
article en
3 citations

Abstract

While dual-phase xenon time projection chambers have driven the sensitivity toward weakly interacting massive particles 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 metric ton/yr exposure from the LUX-ZEPLIN 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.

Physical Review LettersVol. 134(24)
Northwestern University (US), 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, Santa Barbara (US), University of California, Los Angeles (US), University of Alabama (US), John Brown University (US), King's College London (GB), Royal Holloway University of London (GB), South Dakota School of Mines and Technology (US), Brookhaven National Laboratory (US), University of Zurich (CH), University of Massachusetts Amherst (US), Brown University (US), 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), Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology (US), Sanford Research (US), Institute for Basic Science (KR), 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), University of California, Davis (US), The University of Texas at Austin (US), University of Sheffield (GB), University of California, Berkeley (US), Stanford University (US), University of Edinburgh (GB)
National Science Foundation, U.S. Department of Energy, South Dakota Community Foundation, Brown University, University of Alabama, National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center, Imperial College London, University College London, University of Edinburgh, Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung, Institute for Basic Science, Office of Science, Science and Technology Facilities Council, Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, High Energy Physics
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