Logo
ScienceStack
Table of Contents
Fetching ...
Sign In

First Results from the XENON10 Dark Matter Experiment at the Gran Sasso National Laboratory

J. Angle, E. Aprile, F. Arneodo, L. Baudis, A. Bernstein, A. Bolozdynya, P. Brusov, L. C. C. Coelho, C. E. Dahl, L. DeViveiros, A. D. Ferella, L. M. P. Fernandes, S. Fiorucci, R. J. Gaitskell, K. L. Giboni, R. Gomez, R. Hasty, L. Kastens, J. Kwong, J. A. M. Lopes, N. Madden, A. Manalaysay, A. Manzur, D. N. McKinsey, M. E. Monzani, K. Ni, U. Oberlack, J. Orboeck, G. Plante, R. Santorelli, J. M. F. dos Santos, P. Shagin, T. Shutt, P. Sorensen, S. Schulte, C. Winant, M. Yamashita

TL;DR

A blind analysis of 58.6 live days of data 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 W IMP mass of 100 GeV/c2, which further constrains predictions of supersymmetric models.

Abstract

The XENON10 experiment at the Gran Sasso National Laboratory uses a 15 kg xenon dual phase time projection chamber (XeTPC) 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 8.8 x 10^{-44} cm^2 for a WIMP mass of 100 GeV/c^2, and 4.5 x 10^{-44} cm^2 for a WIMP mass of 30 GeV/c^2. This result further constrains predictions of supersymmetric models.

First Results from the XENON10 Dark Matter Experiment at the Gran Sasso National Laboratory

TL;DR

A blind analysis of 58.6 live days of data 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 W IMP mass of 100 GeV/c2, which further constrains predictions of supersymmetric models.

Abstract

The XENON10 experiment at the Gran Sasso National Laboratory uses a 15 kg xenon dual phase time projection chamber (XeTPC) 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 8.8 x 10^{-44} cm^2 for a WIMP mass of 100 GeV/c^2, and 4.5 x 10^{-44} cm^2 for a WIMP mass of 30 GeV/c^2. This result further constrains predictions of supersymmetric models.

Paper Structure

This paper contains 4 figures, 1 table.

Figures (4)

  • Figure 1: Log$_{10}$($S2/S1$) as a function of energy for electron recoils (top) and nuclear recoils (bottom) from calibration data. The colored lines are the mean Log$_{10}$($S2/S1$) values of the electron recoil (upper, red) and nuclear recoil (lower, blue) bands. The region between the two vertical dashed lines is the energy window (4.5 - 26.9 keV nuclear recoil equivalent energy) chosen for the WIMP search. An $S2$ software threshold of 300 pe is also imposed (black lines).
  • Figure 2: Position distribution of events in the 4.5 to 26.9 keV nuclear recoil energy window, from the 58.6 live-days of WIMP-search data. ($+$) Events in the WIMP-signal region before the software cuts. ($\oplus$) Events remaining in the WIMP-search region after the software cuts. The solid lines indicate the fiducial volume, corresponding to a mass of 5.4 kg.
  • Figure 3: Results from 58.6 live-days of WIMP-search in the 5.4 kg LXe target. The WIMP search window was defined between the two vertical lines (4.5 to 26.9 keV nuclear recoil equivalent energy) and blue lines (about 50% nuclear recoil acceptance).
  • Figure 4: Spin-independent WIMP-nucleon cross-section upper limits (90% C.L.) versus WIMP mass. Curves are shown for the previous best published limit (upper, blue) CDMSII and the current work (lower, red), assuming a constant 19% $\mathcal{L}_{eff}$. The shaded area is for parameters in the constrained minimal supersymmetric models EllisRoszkowski:2007fd.