Limits on Strongly Interacting Sub-GeV Dark Matter from the PROSPECT Reactor Antineutrino Experiment

Published

July 16, 2021

Author(s)

Hans Pieter Mumm, Denis E. Bergeron, Mark Tyra, Jerome LaRosa, Svetlana Nour, M Andriamirado, A.B. Balantekin, H.R. Band, C.D. Bass, D. Berish, N.S. Bowden, J.P. Brodsky, C.D. Bryan, T. Classen, A.J. Conant, G. Deichert, M.V. Diwan, M.J. Dolinski, A. Erickson, B.T. Foust, J.K. Gaison, A. Galindo-Uribarri, C.E. Gilbert, B.W. Goddard, B.T. Hackett, S. Hans, A.B. Hansell, K.M. Heeger, D.E. Jaffe, X. Ji, D.C. Jones, O. Kyzylova, C.E. Lane, T.J. Langford, B.R. Littlejohn, X. Lu, J. Maricic, M.P. Mendenhall, A.M. Meyer, R. Milincic, I. Mitchell, P.E. Mueller, J. Napolitano, C. Nave, R. Neilson, J.A. Nikkel, D. Norcini, J.L. Palomino, D.A. Pushin, X. Qian, E. Romero-Romero, R. Rosero, P.T. Surukuchi, R.L. Varner, D. Venegas-Vargas, P.B. Weatherly, C. White, J. Wilhelmi, A. Woolverton, M. Yeh, A. Zhang, C. Zhang, X. Zhang

Abstract

If dark matter has mass lower than around 1 GeV, it will not impart enough energy to cause detectable nuclear recoils in many direct-detection experiments. However, if dark matter is upscattered to high energy by collisions with cosmic rays, it may be detectable in both direct-detection experiments and neutrino experiments. We report the results of a dedicated search for boosted dark matter upscattered by cosmic rays using the PROSPECT reactor antineutrino experiment. We show that such a flux of upscattered dark matter would display characteristic daily modulation, and use this to set new experimental constraints on strongly interacting, sub-GeV dark matter.

Citation

Physical Review D (Particles, Fields, Gravitation and Cosmology)

Volume

104

Pub Type

Journals

Download Paper

https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.104.012009

Local Download

Keywords

dark matter, neutrinos, reactor, cosmic rays

Citation

Mumm, H. , Bergeron, D. , Tyra, M. , LaRosa, J. , Nour, S. , Andriamirado, M. , Balantekin, A. , Band, H. , Bass, C. , Berish, D. , Bowden, N. , Brodsky, J. , Bryan, C. , Classen, T. , Conant, A. , Deichert, G. , Diwan, M. , Dolinski, M. , Erickson, A. , Foust, B. , Gaison, J. , Galindo-Uribarri, A. , Gilbert, C. , Goddard, B. , Hackett, B. , Hans, S. , Hansell, A. , Heeger, K. , Jaffe, D. , Ji, X. , Jones, D. , Kyzylova, O. , Lane, C. , Langford, T. , Littlejohn, B. , Lu, X. , Maricic, J. , Mendenhall, M. , Meyer, A. , Milincic, R. , Mitchell, I. , Mueller, P. , Napolitano, J. , Nave, C. , Neilson, R. , Nikkel, J. , Norcini, D. , Palomino, J. , Pushin, D. , Qian, X. , Romero-Romero, E. , Rosero, R. , Surukuchi, P. , Varner, R. , Venegas-Vargas, D. , Weatherly, P. , White, C. , Wilhelmi, J. , Woolverton, A. , Yeh, M. , Zhang, A. , Zhang, C. and Zhang, X. (2021), Limits on Strongly Interacting Sub-GeV Dark Matter from the PROSPECT Reactor Antineutrino Experiment, Physical Review D (Particles, Fields, Gravitation and Cosmology), [online], https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.104.012009, https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=932275 (Accessed October 13, 2025)