We report results of a search for light (≲10 GeV) particle dark matter with the XENON10 detector. The event trigger was sensitive to a single electron, with the analysis threshold of 5 electrons ...corresponding to 1.4 keV nuclear recoil energy. Considering spin-independent dark matter-nucleon scattering, we exclude cross sections σ(n)>7×10(-42) cm(2), for a dark matter particle mass m(χ)=7 GeV. We find that our data strongly constrain recent elastic dark matter interpretations of excess low-energy events observed by CoGeNT and CRESST-II, as well as the DAMA annual modulation signal.
The DARWIN observatory is a proposed next-generation experiment to search for particle dark matter and for the neutrinoless double beta decay of
136
Xe. Out of its 50 t total natural xenon inventory, ...40 t will be the active target of a time projection chamber which thus contains about 3.6 t of
136
Xe. Here, we show that its projected half-life sensitivity is
2.4
×
10
27
year
, using a fiducial volume of 5 t of natural xenon and 10 year of operation with a background rate of less than 0.2 events/(t
·
year) in the energy region of interest. This sensitivity is based on a detailed Monte Carlo simulation study of the background and event topologies in the large, homogeneous target. DARWIN will be comparable in its science reach to dedicated double beta decay experiments using xenon enriched in
136
Xe.
The XENON10 experiment at the Gran Sasso National Laboratory uses a 15 kg xenon dual phase time projection chamber to search for dark matter weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs). The detector ...measures simultaneously the scintillation and the ionization produced by radiation in pure liquid xenon to discriminate signal from background down to 4.5 keV nuclear-recoil energy. A blind analysis of 58.6 live days of data, acquired between October 6, 2006, and February 14, 2007, and using a fiducial mass of 5.4 kg, excludes previously unexplored parameter space, setting a new 90% C.L. upper limit for the WIMP-nucleon spin-independent cross section of 8.8x10(-44) cm2 for a WIMP mass of 100 GeV/c2, and 4.5x10(-44) cm2 for a WIMP mass of 30 GeV/c2. This result further constrains predictions of supersymmetric models.
We report on a search for particle dark matter with the XENON100 experiment, operated at the Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso for 13 months during 2011 and 2012. XENON100 features an ultralow ...electromagnetic background of (5.3 ± 0.6) × 10(-3) events/(keV(ee) × kg × day) in the energy region of interest. A blind analysis of 224.6 live days × 34 kg exposure has yielded no evidence for dark matter interactions. The two candidate events observed in the predefined nuclear recoil energy range of 6.6-30.5 keV(nr) are consistent with the background expectation of (1.0 ± 0.2) events. A profile likelihood analysis using a 6.6-43.3 keV(nr) energy range sets the most stringent limit on the spin-independent elastic weakly interacting massive particle-nucleon scattering cross section for weakly interacting massive particle masses above 8 GeV/c(2), with a minimum of 2 × 10(-45) cm(2) at 55 GeV/c(2) and 90% confidence level.
We present results from the direct search for dark matter with the XENON100 detector, installed underground at the Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso of INFN, Italy. XENON100 is a two-phase ...time-projection chamber with a 62 kg liquid xenon target. Interaction vertex reconstruction in three dimensions with millimeter precision allows the selection of only the innermost 48 kg as the ultralow background fiducial target. In 100.9 live days of data, acquired between January and June 2010, no evidence for dark matter is found. Three candidate events were observed in the signal region with an expected background of (1.8 ± 0.6) events. This leads to the most stringent limit on dark matter interactions today, excluding spin-independent elastic weakly interacting massive particle (WIMP) nucleon scattering cross sections above 7.0 × 10(-45) cm(2) for a WIMP mass of 50 GeV/c(2) at 90% confidence level.
We present new experimental constraints on the elastic, spin-dependent WIMP-nucleon cross section using recent data from the XENON100 experiment, operated in the Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso ...in Italy. An analysis of 224.6 live days×34 kg of exposure acquired during 2011 and 2012 revealed no excess signal due to axial-vector WIMP interactions with 129Xe and 131Xe nuclei. This leads to the most stringent upper limits on WIMP-neutron cross sections for WIMP masses above 6 GeV/c², with a minimum cross section of 3.5×10(-40) cm² at a WIMP mass of 45 GeV/c², at 90% confidence level.
The XENON100 dark matter experiment Aprile, E.; Arisaka, K.; Arneodo, F. ...
Astroparticle physics,
April 2012, 2012-4-00, 20120401, Volume:
35, Issue:
9
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Open access
► XENON100 is currently one of the most sensitive experiments to detect WIMP dark matter. ► Detector design and active/passive shielding reduce the radioactive background level. ► The event vertex of ...an interaction is reconstructed with a few mm precision. ► All position dependent signal corrections are presented in the paper. ► An energy scale exploiting the light-charge anti-correlation leads to an energy resolution competitive with NaI(Tl) crystals.
The XENON100 dark matter experiment uses liquid xenon (LXe) in a time projection chamber (TPC) to search for xenon nuclear recoils resulting from the scattering of dark matter Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs). In this paper we present a detailed description of the detector design and present performance results, as established during the commissioning phase and during the first science runs.
The active target of XENON100 contains 62kg of LXe, surrounded by an LXe veto of 99kg, both instrumented with photomultiplier tubes (PMTs) operating inside the liquid or in xenon gas. The LXe target and veto are contained in a low-radioactivity stainless steel vessel, embedded in a passive radiation shield and is installed underground at the Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso (LNGS), Italy. The experiment has recently published results from a 100 live-days dark matter search. The ultimate design goal of XENON100 is to achieve a spin-independent WIMP-nucleon scattering cross section sensitivity of σ=2×10−45cm2 for a 100GeV/c2 WIMP.
XENON10 is the first two-phase xenon time projection chamber (TPC) developed within the XENON dark matter search program. The TPC, with an active liquid xenon (LXe) mass of about 14
kg, was installed ...at the Gran Sasso Underground Laboratory (LNGS) in Italy, and operated for more than one year, with excellent stability and performance. Results from a dark matter search with XENON10 have been published elsewhere. In this paper, we summarize the design and performance of the detector and its subsystems, based on calibration data using sources of gamma-rays and neutrons as well as background and Monte Carlo simulation data. The results on the detector’s energy threshold, position resolution, and overall efficiency show a performance that exceeds design specifications, in view of the very low energy threshold achieved (<10
keVr) and low background rate achieved.
The XENON100 experiment, in operation at the Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso in Italy, is designed to search for dark matter weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs) scattering off 62 kg of ...liquid xenon in an ultralow background dual-phase time projection chamber. In this Letter, we present first dark matter results from the analysis of 11.17 live days of nonblind data, acquired in October and November 2009. In the selected fiducial target of 40 kg, and within the predefined signal region, we observe no events and hence exclude spin-independent WIMP-nucleon elastic scattering cross sections above 3.4 × 10⁻⁴⁴ cm² for 55 GeV/c² WIMPs at 90% confidence level. Below 20 GeV/c², this result constrains the interpretation of the CoGeNT and DAMA signals as being due to spin-independent, elastic, light mass WIMP interactions.
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