Search for Light Dark Matter from the Atmosphere in PandaX-4T.

Autor: Ning X, Abdukerim A, Bo Z, Chen W, Chen X, Cheng C, Cheng Z, Cui X, Fan Y, Fang D, Fu C, Fu M, Geng L, Giboni K, Gu L, Guo X, Han C, Han K, He C, He J, Huang D, Huang Y, Huang J, Huang Z, Hou R, Hou Y, Ji X, Ju Y, Li C, Li J, Li M, Li S, Li T, Lin Q, Liu J, Lu C, Lu X, Luo L, Luo Y, Ma W, Ma Y, Mao Y, Meng Y, Qi N, Qian Z, Ren X, Shaheed N, Shang X, Shao X, Shen G, Si L, Sun W, Tan A, Tao Y, Wang A, Wang M, Wang Q, Wang S, Wang S, Wang W, Wang X, Wang Z, Wei Y, Wu M, Wu W, Xia J, Xiao M, Xiao X, Xie P, Yan B, Yan X, Yang J, Yang Y, Yao Y, Yu C, Yuan Y, Yuan Z, Zeng X, Zhang D, Zhang M, Zhang P, Zhang S, Zhang S, Zhang T, Zhang W, Zhang Y, Zhang Y, Zhang Y, Zhao L, Zheng Q, Zhou J, Zhou N, Zhou X, Zhou Y, Zhou Y, Su L; School of Physics and Technology, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing 210023, China., Wu L; School of Physics and Technology, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing 210023, China.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: Physical review letters [Phys Rev Lett] 2023 Jul 28; Vol. 131 (4), pp. 041001.
DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.131.041001
Abstrakt: We report a search for light dark matter produced through the cascading decay of η mesons, which are created as a result of inelastic collisions between cosmic rays and Earth's atmosphere. We introduce a new and general framework, publicly accessible, designed to address boosted dark matter specifically, with which a full and dedicated simulation including both elastic and quasielastic processes of Earth attenuation effect on the dark matter particles arriving at the detector is performed. In the PandaX-4T commissioning data of 0.63  tonne·year exposure, no significant excess over background is observed. The first constraints on the interaction between light dark matter generated in the atmosphere and nucleus through a light scalar mediator are obtained. The lowest excluded cross section is set at 5.9×10^{-37}  cm^{2} for a dark matter mass of 0.1  MeV/c^{2} and mediator mass of 300  MeV/c^{2}. The lowest upper limit of η to the dark matter decay branching ratio is 1.6×10^{-7}.
Databáze: MEDLINE