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Limits on Strongly Interacting Sub-GeV Dark Matter from the PROSPECT Reactor Antineutrino Experiment
Published
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)
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 9, 2025)