Superconducting Detectors for Superlight Dark Matter

Hochberg, Yonit; Zhao, Yue; Zurek, Kathryn M.

doi:10.1103/physrevlett.116.011301

Cited by 254 publications

(261 citation statements)

References 58 publications

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“…In this paper we further develop the proposal laid out in ref. [23], where superconductors were considered for accessing DM energy deposits on electrons as low as a milli-eV, translating to sensitivity to DM with mass as low as m X ∼ keV. Cosmologically, the keV mass scale is significant because it corresponds to the lower bound on the DM mass from the Lyman-α forest [24] and phase space packing [25,26]; lighter (fermionic and thermalized) DM is inconsistent with cosmological observations (though see ref.…”

Section: Jhep08(2016)057mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…constraints may be lifted, however, for instance via having the coupling g e vary with environment, or via trapping effects, in which case sizable direct detection cross sections can be accommodated [79]. A kinetically mixed vector mediator can also lift stellar constraints, as will be discussed in section 5.2.2.…”

Section: Jhep08(2016)057mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These constraints can also be evaded in 'non-vanilla' models, for instance by varying the couplings or the masses of the system with temperature. A full exploration of such models will be detailed in a separate publication [79].…”

Section: Jhep08(2016)057mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…[81][82][83].) Model building efforts along these lines, both for relaxing BBN/N eff constraints for light or heavy mediators as well as lifting stellar constraints for light mediators, are being pursued in detail elsewhere [79].…”

Section: Jhep08(2016)057mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Detecting superlight dark matter with Fermi-degenerate materials

Hochberg

Pyle

Zhao

et al. 2016

J. High Energ. Phys.

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202

239

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We examine in greater detail the recent proposal of using superconductors for detecting dark matter as light as the warm dark matter limit of O(keV). Detection of such light dark matter is possible if the entire kinetic energy of the dark matter is extracted in the scattering, and if the experiment is sensitive to O(meV) energy depositions. This is the case for Fermi-degenerate materials in which the Fermi velocity exceeds the dark matter velocity dispersion in the Milky Way of ∼ 10 −3 . We focus on a concrete experimental proposal using a superconducting target with a transition edge sensor in order to detect the small energy deposits from the dark matter scatterings. Considering a wide variety of constraints, from dark matter self-interactions to the cosmic microwave background, we show that models consistent with cosmological/astrophysical and terrestrial constraints are observable with such detectors. A wider range of viable models with dark matter mass below an MeV is available if dark matter or mediator properties (such as couplings or masses) differ at BBN epoch or in stellar interiors from those in superconductors. We also show that metal targets pay a strong in-medium suppression for kinetically mixed mediators; this suppression is alleviated with insulating targets.

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Section: Jhep08(2016)057mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Jhep08(2016)057mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Jhep08(2016)057mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Jhep08(2016)057mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Detecting superlight dark matter with Fermi-degenerate materials

Hochberg

Pyle

Zhao

et al. 2016

J. High Energ. Phys.

Self Cite

202

239

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“…We will also apply our results to the DAMIC bounds discussed in [12] derived from an engineering run of DAMIC [14]. Additional possible methods for detecting sub-GeV DM include superconductors [15,16], superfluid helium [17,18], as well as a search tactic employing conventional DM detectors wherein a detectable photon is emitted from the scattered nucleus [19].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 95%

Terrestrial effects on dark matter-electron scattering experiments

2017

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A well-studied possibility is that dark matter may reside in a sector secluded from the Standard Model, except for the so-called photon portal: kinetic mixing between the ordinary and dark photons. Such interactions can be probed at dark matter direct detection experiments, and new experimental techniques involving detection of dark matter-electron scattering offer new sensitivity to sub-GeV dark matter. Typically however it is implicitly assumed that the dark matter is not altered as it traverses the Earth to arrive at the detector. In this paper we study in detail the effects of terrestrial stopping on dark photon models of dark matter, and find that they significantly reduce the sensitivity of XENON10 and DAMIC. In particular we find that XENON10 only excludes masses in the range (5-3000) MeV while DAMIC only probes (20-50) MeV. Their corresponding cross section sensitivity is reduced to a window of cross sections between (5 × 10 −38 − 10 −30 ) cm 2 for XENON10 and a small window around ∼ 10 −31 cm 2 for DAMIC. We also examine implications for a future DAMIC run.

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The SENSEI Experiment

Tiffenberg

2019

Astrophysics and Space Science Proceedings

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Superconducting Detectors for Superlight Dark Matter

Cited by 254 publications

References 58 publications

Detecting superlight dark matter with Fermi-degenerate materials

Detecting superlight dark matter with Fermi-degenerate materials

Terrestrial effects on dark matter-electron scattering experiments

The SENSEI Experiment

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