We report results from a reanalysis of data from the Cryogenic Dark Matter Search (CDMS II) experiment at the Soudan Underground Laboratory. Data taken between October 2006 and September 2008 using eight germanium detectors are reanalyzed with a lowered, 2 keV recoil-energy threshold, to give increased sensitivity to interactions from weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs) with masses below 10 GeV/c2. This analysis provides stronger constraints than previous CDMS II results for WIMP masses below 9 GeV/c2 and excludes parameter space associated with possible low-mass WIMP signals from the DAMA/LIBRA and CoGeNT experiments.

Neutrinoless double beta decay is a process that violates lepton number conservation. It is predicted to occur in extensions of the standard model of particle physics. This Letter reports the results from phase I of the Germanium Detector Array (GERDA) experiment at the Gran Sasso Laboratory (Italy) searching for neutrinoless double beta decay of the isotope (76)Ge. Data considered in the present analysis have been collected between November 2011 and May 2013 with a total exposure of 21.6 kg yr. A blind analysis is performed. The background index is about 1 × 10(-2) counts/(keV kg yr) after pulse shape discrimination. No signal is observed and a lower limit is derived for the half-life of neutrinoless double beta decay of (76)Ge, T(1/2)(0ν) >2.1 × 10(25) yr (90% C.L.). The combination with the results from the previous experiments with (76)Ge yields T(1/2)(0ν)>3.0 × 10(25) yr (90% C.L.).

We report results from a blind analysis of the final data taken with the Cryogenic Dark Matter Search experiment (CDMS II) at the Soudan Underground Laboratory, Minnesota, USA. A total raw exposure of 612 kg-days was analyzed for this work. We observed two events in the signal region; based on our background estimate, the probability of observing two or more background events is 23%. These data set an upper limit on the Weakly Interacting Massive Particle (WIMP)-nucleon elastic-scattering spin-independent cross-section of 7.0 × 10 −44 cm 2 for a WIMP of mass 70 GeV/c 2 at the 90% confidence level. Combining this result with all previous CDMS II data gives an upper limit on the WIMP-nucleon spin-independent cross-section of 3.8 × 10 −44 cm 2 for a WIMP of mass 70 GeV/c 2 . We also exclude new parameter space in recently proposed inelastic dark matter models. Cosmological observations [1] have led to a concordance model of the universe where ∼85% of matter is non-baryonic, non-luminous and non-relativistic at the time of structure formation. Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs) [2] are a class of candidates for this dark matter which are particularly well motivated by proposed extensions to the Standard Model of particle physics and by thermal production models for dark matter in the early universe [3,4,5,6]. WIMPs, distributed in a halo surrounding our galaxy, would coherently scatter off nuclei in terrestrial detectors [7,8,9] with a mean recoil energy of ∼ tens of keV, presently limited by observation to a rate of less than 0.1 event 5,6,10]. Direct search experiments seek recoil signatures of these interactions and have achieved the sensitivity to begin testing the most interesting classes of WIMP models [11,12,13,14].The Cryogenic Dark Matter Search (CDMS II) experiment, located at the Soudan Underground Laboratory, uses 19 Ge (∼230 g) and 11 Si (∼100 g) particle detectors operated at cryogenic temperatures (< 50 mK) [11,15]. Each detector is a disk ∼10 mm thick and 76 mm in diameter. Particle interactions in the detectors deposit energy in the form of phonons and ionization. Phonon sensors on the top of each detector are connected to four phonon readout channels to allow measurement of the recoil enarXiv:0912.3592v1 [astro-ph.CO]

We report on the first axion search results from the Cryogenic Dark Matter Search (CDMS) experiment at the Soudan Underground Laboratory. An energy threshold of 2 keV for electron-recoil events allows a search for possible solar axion conversion into photons or local galactic axion conversion into electrons in the germanium crystal detectors. The solar axion search sets an upper limit on the Primakov coupling g(agammagamma) of 2.4x10(-9) GeV-1 at the 95% confidence level for an axion mass less than 0.1 keV/c2. This limit benefits from the first precise measurement of the absolute crystal plane orientations in this type of experiment. The galactic axion search analysis sets a world-leading experimental upper limit on the axioelectric coupling g(aee) of 1.4x10(-12) at the 90% confidence level for an axion mass of 2.5 keV/c2.

Results from a search for neutrinoless double-beta decay (0νββ) of ^{136}Xe are presented using the first year of data taken with the upgraded EXO-200 detector. Relative to previous searches by EXO-200, the energy resolution of the detector has been improved to σ/E=1.23%, the electric field in the drift region has been raised by 50%, and a system to suppress radon in the volume between the cryostat and lead shielding has been implemented. In addition, analysis techniques that improve topological discrimination between 0νββ and background events have been developed. Incorporating these hardware and analysis improvements, the median 90% confidence level 0νββ half-life sensitivity after combining with the full data set acquired before the upgrade has increased twofold to 3.7×10^{25}  yr. No statistically significant evidence for 0νββ is observed, leading to a lower limit on the 0νββ half-life of 1.8×10^{25}  yr at the 90% confidence level.