Search for WIMP Inelastic Scattering off Xenon Nuclei with XENON100

E. Aprile , J. Aalbers , F. Agostini , M. Alfonsi , F.D. Amaro , M. Anthony , F. Arneodo , P. Barrow , L. Baudis , B. Bauermeister , M.L. Benabderrahmane , T. Berger , P.A. Breur , A. Brown , E. Brown , S. Bruenner , G. Bruno , R. Budnik , L. Bütikofer , J. Calvén , J.M.R. Cardoso , M. Cervantes , D. Cichon , D. Coderre , A.P. Colijn , J. Conrad , Jean-Pierre Cussonneau (1) , M.P. Decowski , P. de Perio , P. Di Gangi , A. Di Giovanni , Sara Diglio (1) , G. Eurin , J. Fei , A.D. Ferella , A. Fieguth , W. Fulgione , A. Gallo Rosso , M. Galloway , F. Gao , M. Garbini , C. Geis , L.W. Goetzke , Z. Greene , C. Grignon , C. Hasterok , E. Hogenbirk , R. Itay , B. Kaminsky , S. Kazama , G. Kessler , A. Kish , H. Landsman , R.F. Lang , D. Lellouch , L. Levinson , Q. Lin , S. Lindemann , M. Lindner , F. Lombardi , J.A.M. Lopes , A. Manfredini , I. Maris , T. Marrodán Undagoitia , Julien Masbou (1) , F.V. Massoli , D. Masson , D. Mayani , M. Messina , K. Micheneau (1) , A. Molinario , K. Mora , M. Murra , J. Naganoma , K. Ni , U. Oberlack , P. Pakarha , B. Pelssers , R. Persiani (1) , F. Piastra , J. Pienaar , V. Pizzella , M.-C. Piro , G. Plante , N. Priel , L. Rauch , S. Reichard , C. Reuter , A. Rizzo , S. Rosendahl , N. Rupp , J.M.F. dos Santos , G. Sartorelli , M. Scheibelhut , S. Schindler , J. Schreiner , M. Schumann , L. Scotto Lavina (2) , M. Selvi , P. Shagin , M. Silva , H. Simgen , M. V. Sivers , A. Stein , Dominique Thers (1) , A. Tiseni , G. Trinchero , C. Tunnell , M. Vargas , H. Wang , Z. Wang , Y. Wei , C. Weinheimer , J. Wulf , J. Ye , Y. Zhang

1 SUBATECH - Laboratoire de physique subatomique et des technologies associées
2 LPNHE (UMR_7585) - Laboratoire de Physique Nucléaire et de Hautes Énergies

We present the first constraints on the spin-dependent, inelastic scattering cross section of weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs) on nucleons from XENON100 data with an exposure of 7.64×103  kg·days. XENON100 is a dual-phase xenon time projection chamber with 62 kg of active mass, operated at the Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso (LNGS) in Italy and designed to search for nuclear recoils from WIMP-nucleus interactions. Here we explore inelastic scattering, where a transition to a low-lying excited nuclear state of Xe129 is induced. The experimental signature is a nuclear recoil observed together with the prompt deexcitation photon. We see no evidence for such inelastic WIMP-Xe129 interactions. A profile likelihood analysis allows us to set a 90% C.L. upper limit on the inelastic, spin-dependent WIMP-nucleon cross section of 3.3×10-38  cm2 at 100  GeV/c2. This is the most constraining result to date, and sets the pathway for an analysis of this interaction channel in upcoming, larger dual-phase xenon detectors.

Mots clés: nucleus: recoil; cross section: inelastic scattering; time projection chamber: xenon; WIMP nucleus: interaction; WIMP nucleon: cross section; spin: dependence; channel cross section: measured; XENON; WIMP; Gran Sasso; signature; WIMP nucleon: inelastic scattering; photon: emission; statistical analysis; data analysis method; experimental results; S030DP2

Domaines: Physique des Hautes Energies - Expérience [hep-ex]; Astrophysique [astro-ph]; Instrumentations et Détecteurs [physics.ins-det]

E. Aprile, J. Aalbers, F. Agostini, M. Alfonsi, F.D. Amaro, et al.. Search for WIMP Inelastic Scattering off Xenon Nuclei with XENON100. Physical Review D, 2017, 96 (2), pp.022008. ⟨10.1103/PhysRevD.96.022008⟩. ⟨hal-01645702⟩