Ultra-Heavy Dark Matter Search with Electron Microscopy of Geological Quartz
| Autor: | Reza Ebadi, David F. Phillips, Anubhav Mathur, Nicholas D. Tailby, Roger R. Fu, Surjeet Rajendran, Mason C. Marshall, Aakash Ravi, Raisa Trubko, Erwin H. Tanin, Ronald L. Walsworth |
|---|---|
| Jazyk: | angličtina |
| Rok vydání: | 2021 |
| Předmět: |
Physics
SIMPLE (dark matter experiment) Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics (astro-ph.CO) Number density 010308 nuclear & particles physics Dark matter Detector FOS: Physical sciences Astrophysics 01 natural sciences Standard Model High Energy Physics - Experiment High Energy Physics - Experiment (hep-ex) Cross section (physics) High Energy Physics - Phenomenology High Energy Physics - Phenomenology (hep-ph) 0103 physical sciences 010306 general physics Event (particle physics) Quartz Astrophysics - Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics |
| Zdroj: | Physical Review |
| Popis: | Self-interactions within the dark sector could clump dark matter into heavy composite states with low number density, leading to a highly suppressed event rate in existing direct detection experiments. However, the large interaction cross section between such ultra-heavy dark matter (UHDM) and standard model matter results in a distinctive and compelling signature: long, straight damage tracks as they pass through and scatter with matter. In this work, we propose using geologically old quartz samples as large-exposure detectors for UHDM. We describe a high-resolution readout method based on electron microscopy, characterize the most favorable geological samples for this approach, and study its reach in a simple model of the dark sector. The advantage of this search strategy is two-fold: the age of geological quartz compensates for the low number density of UHDMs, and the distinct geometry of the damage track serves as a high-fidelity background rejection tool. 9 pages, 3 figures |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
| Externí odkaz: |
|