Tag Archives: High Energy Physics – Experiment

GraphNeT: Graph neural networks for neutrino telescope event reconstruction [IMA]

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http://arxiv.org/abs/2210.12194


GraphNeT is an open-source python framework aimed at providing high quality, user friendly, end-to-end functionality to perform reconstruction tasks at neutrino telescopes using graph neural networks (GNNs). GraphNeT makes it fast and easy to train complex models that can provide event reconstruction with state-of-the-art performance, for arbitrary detector configurations, with inference times that are orders of magnitude faster than traditional reconstruction techniques. GNNs from GraphNeT are flexible enough to be applied to data from all neutrino telescopes, including future projects such as IceCube extensions or P-ONE. This means that GNN-based reconstruction can be used to provide state-of-the-art performance on most reconstruction tasks in neutrino telescopes, at real-time event rates, across experiments and physics analyses, with vast potential impact for neutrino and astro-particle physics.

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A. Søgaard, R. Ørsøe, L. Bozianu, et. al.
Tue, 25 Oct 22
98/111

Comments: 6 pages, 1 figure. Code can be found at this https URL . Submitted to the Journal of Open Source Software (JOSS)

Fast On-orbit Pulse Phase Estimation of X-ray Crab Pulsar for XNAV Flight Experiments [IMA]

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http://arxiv.org/abs/2210.12422


The recent flight experiments with Neutron Star Interior Composition Explorer (\textit{NICER}) and \textit{Insight}-Hard X-ray Modulation Telescope (\textit{Insight}-HXMT) have demonstrated the feasibility of X-ray pulsar-based navigation (XNAV) in the space. However, the current pulse phase estimation and navigation methods employed in the above flight experiments are computationally too expensive for handling the Crab pulsar data. To solve this problem, this paper proposes a fast algorithm of on-orbit estimating the pulse phase of Crab pulsar called X-ray pulsar navigaTion usIng on-orbiT pulsAr timiNg (XTITAN). The pulse phase propagation model for Crab pulsar data from \textit{Insight}-HXMT and \textit{NICER} are derived. When an exposure on the Crab pulsar is divided into several sub-exposures, we derive an on-orbit timing method to estimate the hyperparameters of the pulse phase propagation model. Moreover, XTITAN is improved by iteratively estimating the pulse phase and the position and velocity of satellite. When applied to the Crab pulsar data from \textit{NICER}, XTITAN is 58 times faster than the grid search method employed by \textit{NICER} experiment. When applied to the Crab pulsar data from \textit{Insight}-HXMT, XTITAN is 180 times faster than the Significance Enhancement of Pulse-profile with Orbit-dynamics (SEPO) which was employed in the flight experiments with \textit{Insight}-HXMT. Thus, XTITAN is computationally much efficient and has the potential to be employed for onboard computation.

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Y. Wang, S. Zhang, M. Ge, et. al.
Tue, 25 Oct 22
105/111

Comments: N/A

Uncovering the neutrino mass ordering with the next galactic core-collapse supernova neutrino burst [CL]

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http://arxiv.org/abs/2210.11676


A major conundrum of particle physics is what mass ordering (MO) follow neutrinos. The construction of next-generation neutrino detectors of unprecedented size, sensitivity and budget is underway and an answer is expected in the next decade through the combined study of reactor, atmospheric and accelerator neutrinos. In this Letter, the potential of an additional pathway is pointed out. Due to the MSW effect the flavor content of the neutrino flux from a Core-Collapse Supernovae (CCSNe) is highly dependent on the true neutrino MO. To exploit this feature, an analysis strategy robust to systematic uncertainties is identified for the first time and, by means of it, is shown that for a paradigmatic galactic CCSN a MO separation similar to 5~$\sigma$ can be achieved.

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C. Jesús-Valls
Mon, 24 Oct 22
3/56

Comments: N/A

The DAMIC-M Experiment: Status and First Results [CL]

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http://arxiv.org/abs/2210.12070


The DAMIC-M (DArk Matter In CCDs at Modane) experiment employs thick, fully depleted silicon charged-coupled devices (CCDs) to search for dark matter particles with a target exposure of 1 kg-year. A novel skipper readout implemented in the CCDs provides single electron resolution through multiple non-destructive measurements of the individual pixel charge, pushing the detection threshold to the eV-scale. DAMIC-M will advance by several orders of magnitude the exploration of the dark matter particle hypothesis, in particular of candidates pertaining to the so-called “hidden sector.” A prototype, the Low Background Chamber (LBC), with 20g of low background Skipper CCDs, has been recently installed at Laboratoire Souterrain de Modane and is currently taking data. We will report the status of the DAMIC-M experiment and first results obtained with LBC commissioning data.

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I. Arnquist, N. Avalos, P. Bailly, et. al.
Mon, 24 Oct 22
12/56

Comments: 8 pages, 6 figures, Submission to SciPost Physics Proceedings: 14th International Conference on Identification of Dark Matter (IDM) 2022

Revealing ultra-high-energy cosmic ray acceleration with multi-messenger observations of the nearby GRB 980425/SN 1998bw [HEAP]

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http://arxiv.org/abs/2210.10822


The origin of ultra-high energy cosmic rays (UHECRs) is one of the most mystifying issues in astroparticle physics. It has been suggested that gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are excellent acceleration sites for cosmic rays. The propagation of UHECRs from the GRB host galaxy to the Earth should generate delayed secondary photons and neutrinos. Here we present a dedicated search for delayed UHECR and neutrino emission centered around the position of nearby GRB 980425/SN 1998bw. Located at a distance of 36.9 Mpc, GRB 980425/SN 1998bw is well within the Greisen-Zatsepin-Kuzmin (GZK) distance horizon. We find no evidence for UHECR or neutrino clustering around the GRB 980425/SN 1998bw position between 2004 and 2020. Under ideal propagation conditions, we propose that it might be possible to detect an excess from delayed UHECRs around GRB 980425/SN 1998bw within the next 100 years if the intergalactic magnetic field (IGMF) strength is $B \leq 3 \times 10^{-13}$ G.

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N. Mirabal
Fri, 21 Oct 22
7/76

Comments: 8 pages, 2 figures

Delayed teraelectronvolt emission from GRB 980425/SN 1998bw and the origin of ultra-high-energy cosmic rays [HEAP]

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http://arxiv.org/abs/2210.11430


The origin of ultra-high-energy cosmic rays (UHECRs, E $> 10^{18}$ eV) is one of the great mysteries of modern astrophysics. It has been suggested that UHECRs could be accelerated in gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) and engine-driven supernovae (SNe). Here we report the discovery of a 1.4 teraelectronvolt (TeV) photon offset 0.97$^{\circ}$ from the site of the nearby (36.9 megaparsecs) GRB 980425/SN 1998bw explosion. The Large Area Telescope (LAT) on board the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope detected the TeV emission on 17 November 2018, more than 20 years after the original GRB 980425/SN 1998bw trigger. TeV detections at high Galactic latitudes by the LAT are extremely rare, with an average of 6 events per year. We propose that the delayed TeV emission is consistent with ultra-high-energy cosmic rays and/or electron-positron pairs from GRB 980425/SN 1998bw being deflected by the intergalactic magnetic field (IGMF) and subsequently cascading into secondary gamma rays. Based on the arrival time delay of the TeV emission, we estimate an IGMF strength of order $B \simeq 10^{-12}$-$10^{-13}$ Gauss. This result supports the possibility of UHECR acceleration in GRB 980425/SN 1998bw and suggests that most detected UHECRs are produced in local GRB/SNe within 200 Mpc. In addition, secondary photons from UHECRs out to 0.9-31 Gpc may also offer an explanation for extragalactic background photons with energies $\geq 1$ TeV detected by the Fermi LAT.

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N. Mirabal
Fri, 21 Oct 22
29/76

Comments: 8 pages, 1 Figure

SMEFT effects on gravitational wave spectrum from electroweak phase transition [CL]

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http://arxiv.org/abs/2210.11241


Future gravitational wave observations are potentially sensitive to new physics corrections to the Higgs potential once the first-order electroweak phase transition arises. We study the SMEFT dimension-six operator effects on the Higgs potential, where three types of effects are taken into account: (i) SMEFT tree level effect on $\varphi^6$ operator, (ii) SMEFT tree level effect on the wave function renormalization of the Higgs field, and (iii) SMEFT top-quark one-loop level effect. The sensitivity of future gravitational wave observations to these effects is numerically calculated by performing a Fisher matrix analysis. We find that the future gravitational wave observations can be sensitive to (ii) and (iii) once the first-order electroweak phase transition arises from (i). The sensitivities of the future gravitational wave observations are also compared with those of future collider experiments.

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K. Hashino and D. Ueda
Fri, 21 Oct 22
32/76

Comments: 25 pages, 13 figures

Inference finds consistency between a neutrino flavor evolution model and Earth-based solar neutrino measurements [SSA]

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http://arxiv.org/abs/2210.10884


We continue examining statistical data assimilation (SDA), an inference methodology, to infer solutions to neutrino flavor evolution, for the first time using real – rather than simulated – data. The model represents neutrinos streaming from the Sun’s center and undergoing a Mikheyev-Smirnov-Wolfenstein (MSW) resonance in flavor space, due to the radially-varying electron number density. The model neutrino energies are chosen to correspond to experimental bins in the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory (SNO) and Borexino experiments, which measure electron-flavor survival probability at Earth. The procedure successfully finds consistency between the observed fluxes and the model, if the MSW resonance – that is, flavor evolution due to solar electrons – is included in the dynamical equations representing the model.

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C. Laber-Smith, A. Ahmetaj, E. Armstrong, et. al.
Fri, 21 Oct 22
50/76

Comments: N/A

Cosmic-ray boosted dark matter in Xe-based direct detection experiments [CL]

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http://arxiv.org/abs/2210.01815


LUX-ZEPLIN (LZ) collaboration has achieved the strongest constraint on weak-scale dark matter (DM)-nucleon spin-independent (SI) scattering cross section in a large region of parameter space. In this paper, we take a complementary approach and study the prospect of detecting cosmic-ray boosted sub-GeV DM in LZ. In the absence of a signal for DM, we improve upon the previous constraints by a factor of $\sim 2$ using the LZ result for some regions of the parameter space. We also show that upcoming XENONnT and future Darwin experiments will be sensitive to cross sections smaller by factors of $\sim 3$ and $\sim 10$ compared to the current LZ limit, respectively.

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T. Maity and R. Laha
Wed, 19 Oct 22
8/87

Comments: 15 pages, 2 figures, 1 table. Comments and suggestions are welcome

Dark Matter Induced Power in Quantum Devices [CL]

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http://arxiv.org/abs/2210.09313


We present single quasiparticle devices as new dark matter (DM) detectors. The threshold of these devices is set by the cooper pair binding energy, and is therefore so low that they can detect DM as light as about an MeV incoming from the Galactic halo, as well as the low-velocity thermalized DM component potentially present in the Earth. Using existing power measurements with these new devices, as well as power measurements with SuperCDMS-CPD, we set new constraints on the DM scattering cross section for DM masses from about 1 MeV to 10 GeV, down to about $10^{-34}-10^{-26}$ cm$^2$ for spin-independent interactions. We outline future directions to improve sensitivity to both halo DM and a thermalized DM population in the Earth using power deposition in quantum devices.

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A. Das, N. Kurinsky and R. Leane
Wed, 19 Oct 22
9/87

Comments: 5+5 pages, 3+2 figures

New Constraints on Dark Matter and Cosmic Neutrino Profiles through Gravity [CL]

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http://arxiv.org/abs/2210.03749


We derive purely gravitational constraints on dark matter and cosmic neutrino profiles in the solar system using asteroid (101955) Bennu. We focus on Bennu because of its extensive tracking data and high-fidelity trajectory modeling resulting from the OSIRIS-REx mission. We find that the local density of dark matter is bound by $\rho_{\rm DM}\lesssim 3.3\times 10^{-15}\;\rm kg/m^3 \simeq 6\times10^6\,\bar{\rho}{\rm DM}$, in the vicinity of $\sim 1.1$ au (where $\bar{\rho}{\rm DM}\simeq 0.3\;\rm GeV/cm^3$). We show that high-precision tracking data of solar system objects can constrain cosmic neutrino overdensities relative to the Standard Model prediction $\bar{n}{\nu}$, at the level of $\eta\equiv n\nu/\bar{n}{\nu}\lesssim 1.7 \times 10^{11}(0.1 \;{\rm eV}/m\nu)$ (Saturn), comparable to the existing bounds from KATRIN and other previous laboratory experiments (with $m_\nu$ the neutrino mass). These local bounds have interesting implications for existing and future direct-detection experiments. Our constraints apply to all dark matter candidates but are particularly meaningful for scenarios including solar halos, stellar basins, and axion miniclusters, which predict or allow overdensities in the solar system. Furthermore, introducing a DM-SM long-range fifth force with a strength $\tilde{\alpha}D$ times stronger than gravity, Bennu can set a constraint on $\rho{\rm DM}\lesssim \bar{\rho}_{\rm DM}\left(6 \times 10^6/\tilde{\alpha}_D\right)$. These constraints can be improved in the future as the accuracy of tracking data improves, observational arcs increase, and more missions visit asteroids.

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Y. Tsai, J. Eby, J. Arakawa, et. al.
Wed, 19 Oct 22
33/87

Comments: 2 figures, 2 tables, 9 pages plus references

Model Independent Approach of the JUNO $^8$B Solar Neutrino Program [CL]

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http://arxiv.org/abs/2210.08437


The physics potential of detecting $^8$B solar neutrinos is exploited at the Jiangmen Underground Neutrino Observatory (JUNO), in a model independent manner by using three distinct channels of the charged-current (CC), neutral-current (NC) and elastic scattering (ES) interactions. Due to the largest-ever mass of $^{13}$C nuclei in the liquid-scintillator detectors and the potential low background level, $^8$B solar neutrinos would be observable in the CC and NC interactions on $^{13}$C for the first time. By virtue of optimized event selections and muon veto strategies, backgrounds from the accidental coincidence, muon-induced isotopes, and external backgrounds can be greatly suppressed. Excellent signal-to-background ratios can be achieved in the CC, NC and ES channels to guarantee the $^8$B solar neutrino observation. From the sensitivity studies performed in this work, we show that one can reach the precision levels of 5%, 8% and 20% for the $^8$B neutrino flux, $\sin^2\theta_{12}$, and $\Delta m^2_{21}$, respectively, using ten years of JUNO data. It would be unique and helpful to probe the details of both solar physics and neutrino physics. In addition, when combined with SNO, the world-best precision of 3% is expected for the $^8$B neutrino flux measurement.

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J. Collaboration, J. Zhao, B. Yue, et. al.
Tue, 18 Oct 22
7/99

Comments: 24 pages, 7 figures

Estimation of the number of counts on a particle counter detector with full time resolution [CL]

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http://arxiv.org/abs/2210.09005


We present a general method for estimating the number of particles impinging on a segmented counter or, in general, on a counter with sub-units. We account for unresolved particles, i.e., the effect of two or more particles hitting the same sub-unit almost simultaneously. To achieve full time resolution we account for the dead time that occurs after the first time-bin of a particle signal. This general counting method can be applied to counting muons in existing detectors like the Underground Muon Detector of the Pierre Auger Observatory. We therefore use the latter as a study case to test the performance of our method and to compare it to other methods from literature. Our method proves to perform with little bias, and also provides an estimate of the number of particles as a function of time (as seen by the detector) to a single time-bin resolution. In this context, the new method can be useful for reconstructing parameters sensitive to cosmic ray mass, which are key to unveiling the origin of cosmic rays.

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F. Gesualdi and A. Supanitsky
Tue, 18 Oct 22
45/99

Comments: Accepted for publication in EPJ C

Expected geoneutrino signal at JUNO using local integrated 3-D refined crustal model [CL]

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http://arxiv.org/abs/2210.09165


Geoneutrinos are a unique tool that brings to the surface information about our planet, in particular, its radiogenic power, insights formation and chemical composition. To date, only the KamLAND and Borexino experiments observed geoneutrino, with the former characterized by low concentration of heat-producing elements in the Earth in contrast to the latter that sets tight upper limits on the power of a georeactor hypothesized. With respect to the results yielded therefrom, a small discrepancy has been identified. On this account, next generation experiments like JUNO are needed if it is to provide definitive results with respect to the Earth’s radiogenic power, and to fully exploit geoneutrinos to better understand deep Earth.
An accurate a priori prediction of the crustal contribution plays an important role in enabling the translation of a particle physics measurement into geo-scientific questions. The existing GIGJ model of JUNO only focused on constructing a geophysical model of the local crust, without local geochemical data. Another existing JULOC includes both data, but only able to be achieved for the top layer of the upper crust, not in deep vertical. This paper reports on the development of JUNO’s first 3-D integrated model, JULOC-I, which combines seismic, gravity, rock sample and thermal flow data with new building method, solved the problem in vertical depth.
JULOC-I results show higher than expected geoneutrino signals are mainly attributable to higher U and Th in southern China than that found elsewhere on Earth. Moreover, the high level of accuracy of the JULOC-I model, complemented by 10 years of experimental data, indicates that JUNO has an opportunity to test different mantle models. Predictions by JULOC-I can be tested after JUNO goes online and higher accuracy local crustal model continue to play an important role to improve mantle measurements precision.

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R. Han, Z. Li, R. Gao, et. al.
Tue, 18 Oct 22
50/99

Comments: 26 pages, 10 figures

Sub-TeV hadronic interaction model differences and their impact on air showers [HEAP]

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http://arxiv.org/abs/2210.07575


In the sub-TeV regime, the most widely used hadronic interaction models disagree significantly in their predictions of particle spectra from cosmic ray induced air showers. We investigate the nature and impact of model uncertainties, focussing on air shower primaries with energies around the transition between high and low energy hadronic interaction models, where the dissimilarities are largest and which constitute the bulk of the interactions in air showers.

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M. Schmelling, &. Pastor-Gutiérrez, H. Schorlemmer, et. al.
Mon, 17 Oct 22
51/56

Comments: Proceedings of the 51 International Symposium on Multiparticle Dynamics (ISMD2022)

On the Sensitivity of Spin-Precession Axion Experiments [CL]

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http://arxiv.org/abs/2210.06481


A leading direction in the hunt for axion dark matter is to search for its influence on nuclear spins. The detection scheme involves polarizing a sample of nuclei within a strong static magnetic field and then looking for a spin precession induced by the oscillating axion field. We study the axion signal and background contributions that arise in such experiments (a prominent example being CASPEr), finding key differences with the existing literature. Most importantly, in the limit where the transverse spin-relaxation time of the material is the largest timescale of the problem, we show that the induced signal continues to grow even beyond the coherence time of the axion field. As a result, we find that spin-precession instruments are much more sensitive than what has been previously estimated in a sizable range of axion masses, with sensitivity improvement of up to a factor of 100 at an axion mass of 100 neV using a Xenon-129 sample. This improves the detection prospects for the QCD axion, and we estimate the experimental requirements to reach this motivated target. Our results apply to both the axion electric and magnetic dipole moment operators.

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J. Dror, S. Gori, J. Leedom, et. al.
Fri, 14 Oct 22
4/75

Comments: 15 pages, 3 figures

CATCH: Chasing All Transients Constellation Hunters Space Mission [IMA]

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http://arxiv.org/abs/2210.06109


In time-domain astronomy, a substantial number of transients will be discovered by multi-wavelength and multi-messenger observatories, posing a great challenge for follow-up capabilities. We have thus proposed an intelligent X-ray constellation, the Chasing All Transients Constellation Hunters (\textit{CATCH}) space mission. Consisting of 126 micro-satellites in three types, \textit{CATCH} will have the capability to perform follow-up observations for a large number of different types of transients simultaneously. Each satellite in the constellation will carry lightweight X-ray optics and use a deployable mast to increase the focal length. The combination of different optics and detector systems enables different types of satellites to have multiform observation capabilities, including timing, spectroscopy, imaging, and polarization. Controlled by the intelligent system, different satellites can cooperate to perform uninterrupted monitoring, all-sky follow-up observations, and scanning observations with a flexible field of view (FOV) and multi-dimensional observations. Therefore, \textit{CATCH} will be a powerful mission to study the dynamic universe. Here, we present the current design of the spacecraft, optics, detector system, constellation configuration and observing modes, as well as the development plan.

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P. Li, Q. Yin, Z. Li, et. al.
Thu, 13 Oct 22
19/68

Comments: 43 pages, 15 figures, Submitted to Experimental Astronomy

Improved Dark Matter Search Sensitivity Resulting from LUX Low-Energy Nuclear Recoil Calibration [CL]

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http://arxiv.org/abs/2210.05859


Dual-phase xenon time projection chamber (TPC) detectors have demonstrated superior search sensitivities to dark matter over a wide range of particle masses. To extend their sensitivity to include low-mass dark matter interactions, it is critical to characterize both the light and charge responses of liquid xenon to sub-keV nuclear recoils. In this work, we report a new nuclear recoil calibration in the LUX detector $\textit{in situ}$ using neutron events from a pulsed Adelphi Deuterium-Deuterium neutron generator. We demonstrate direct measurements of light and charge yields down to 0.45 keV (1.4 scintillation photons) and 0.27 keV (1.3 ionization electrons), respectively, approaching the physical limit of liquid xenon detectors. We discuss the implication of these new measurements on the physics reach of dual-phase xenon TPCs for nuclear-recoil-based low-mass dark matter detection.

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L. Collaboration
Thu, 13 Oct 22
32/68

Comments: N/A

Even Lighter Particle Dark Matter [CEA]

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http://arxiv.org/abs/2210.05661


We report on recent progress in the search for dark matter particles with masses from 1 MeV to 1 GeV. Several dark matter candidates in this mass range are expected to generate measurable electronic-recoil signals in direct-detection experiments. We focus on dark matter particles scattering with electrons in semiconductor detectors since they have fundamentally the highest sensitivity due to their low ionization threshold. Charge-coupled device (CCD) silicon detectors are the leading technology, with significant progress expected in the coming years. We present the status of the CCD program and briefly report on other efforts.

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A. Chavarria
Wed, 12 Oct 22
33/75

Comments: Proceedings for the 14th International Conference on Identification of Dark Matter, Submission to SciPost

Measuring the Migdal Effect in Semiconductors [CL]

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http://arxiv.org/abs/2210.04917


The Migdal effect has received much attention from the dark matter direct detection community, in particular due to its power in setting limits on sub-GeV particle dark matter. Currently, there is no experimental confirmation of the Migdal effect through nuclear scattering using Standard Model probes. In this work, we extend existing calculations of the Migdal effect to the case of neutron-nucleus scattering, with a particular focus on neutron scattering angle distributions in silicon. We identify kinematic regimes wherein the assumptions present in current calculations of the Migdal effect hold for neutron scattering, and demonstrate that these include many viable neutron calibration schemes. We then apply this framework to propose an experimental strategy to measure the Migdal effect in cryogenic silicon detectors using the NEXUS facility at Fermilab.

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D. Adams, D. Baxter, H. Day, et. al.
Wed, 12 Oct 22
45/75

Comments: 17 pages, 5 figures

The full coverage approach to the detection of Extensive Air Showers [HEAP]

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http://arxiv.org/abs/2210.04832


A shower array exploiting the full coverage approach with a high segmentation of the readout allow to image the front of atmospheric showers with unprecedented resolution and detail. The grid distance determines the energy threshold (small energy showers are lost in the gap between detectors) and the quality of the shower sampling. Therefore, this experimental solution is needed to detect showers with a threshold in the 100 GeV range. The full coverage approach has been exploited in the ARGO-YBJ experiment. In this contribution we will summarise the advantages of this technique and discuss possible applications in new wide field of view detectors.

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G. Sciascio and I. Vergata
Tue, 11 Oct 22
40/92

Comments: Invited Talk to 21st International Symposium on Very High Energy Cosmic Ray Interactions (ISVHECRI 2022

Experimental and observational tests of antigravity [CEA]

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http://arxiv.org/abs/2210.03445


Whereas repulsive gravity was considered as a fringe concept until the mid-1990’s, the growingexperimental evidence since this epoch for repulsive gravity, in what is now called Dark Energy,for lack of a better understanding of its nature, has led to a vast literature in order to attemptto characterize this repulsive component, and notably its equation of state. In the following, Iwill show that we can use cosmology to test the hypothesis that antimatter is at the origin ofrepulsive gravity, may play the role of a Dark Energy component and, more surprisingly, maymimic the presence of Dark Matter, and justify the MOND phenomenology. More directly,three experiments, AEgIS, ALPHA-g and Gbar, are attempting to measure the action ofgravitation on cold atoms of antihydrogen at CERN in a near future. Finally, I note thatCP violation might be explained by antigravity and I briefly recall the motivations for thisassertion.

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G. Chardin
Mon, 10 Oct 22
3/59

Comments: 33rd Rencontres de Blois: Exploring the Dark Universe, May 2022, Blois, France

Snowmass Theory Frontier: Effective Field Theory [CL]

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http://arxiv.org/abs/2210.03199


We summarize recent progress in the development, application, and understanding of effective field theories and highlight promising directions for future research. This Report is prepared as the TF02 “Effective Field Theory” topical group summary for the Theory Frontier as part of the Snowmass 2021 process.

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M. Baumgart, F. Bishara, T. Brauner, et. al.
Mon, 10 Oct 22
6/59

Comments: 12 pages

Fitting a Self-Interacting Dark Matter Model to Data Ranging From Satellite Galaxies to Galaxy Clusters [CL]

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http://arxiv.org/abs/2210.01132


We present a fit to observational data in an asymmetric self-interacting dark matter model using our recently calculated cross sections that incorporate both $t$-channel and $u$-channel exchanges in the scattering of identical particles. We find good fits to the data ranging from dwarf galaxies to galaxy clusters, and equivalent relative velocities from $\sim 20$ km/sec to $\gtrsim 10^3$ km/s. We compare our results with previous fits that used only $t$-channel exchange contributions to the scattering.

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S. Girmohanta and R. Shrock
Wed, 5 Oct 22
46/73

Comments: 8 pages, 8 figures

Dark Matter decay to neutrinos [CL]

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http://arxiv.org/abs/2210.01303


It is possible that the strongest interactions between dark matter and the Standard Model occur via the neutrino sector. Unlike gamma rays and charged particles, neutrinos provide a unique avenue to probe for astrophysical sources of dark matter, since they arrive unimpeded and undeflected from their sources. Previously, we reported on annihilations of dark matter to neutrinos; here, we review constraints on the decay of dark matter into neutrinos over a range of dark matter masses from MeV to ZeV, compiling previously reported limits, exploring new electroweak corrections and computing constraints where none have been computed before. We examine the expected contributions to the neutrino flux at current and upcoming neutrino experiments as well as photons from electroweak emission expected at gamma-ray telescopes, leading to constraints on the dark matter decay lifetime, which ranges from $\tau \sim 1.2\times10^{21}$ s at 10 MeV to $1.5\times10^{29}$s at 1 PeV.

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C. Argüelles, D. Delgado, A. Friedlander, et. al.
Wed, 5 Oct 22
59/73

Comments: 11 pages, 5 figures. Introductory video of this article can be found in this https URL

Snowmass 2021 Cross Frontier Report: Dark Matter Complementarity (Extended Version) [CL]

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http://arxiv.org/abs/2210.01770


The fundamental nature of Dark Matter is a central theme of the Snowmass 2021 process, extending across all frontiers. In the last decade, advances in detector technology, analysis techniques and theoretical modeling have enabled a new generation of experiments and searches while broadening the types of candidates we can pursue. Over the next decade, there is great potential for discoveries that would transform our understanding of dark matter. In the following, we outline a road map for discovery developed in collaboration among the frontiers. A strong portfolio of experiments that delves deep, searches wide, and harnesses the complementarity between techniques is key to tackling this complicated problem, requiring expertise, results, and planning from all Frontiers of the Snowmass 2021 process.

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A. Boveia, T. Chen, C. Doglioni, et. al.
Wed, 5 Oct 22
71/73

Comments: v1 is first draft for community comment

ALPHA: Searching For Dark Matter with Plasma Haloscopes [CL]

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http://arxiv.org/abs/2210.00017


We summarise the recent progress of the Axion Longitudinal Plasma HAloscope (ALPHA) Consortium, a new experimental collaboration to build a plasma haloscope to search for axions and dark photons. The plasma haloscope is a novel method for the detection of the resonant conversion of light dark matter to photons. ALPHA will be sensitive to QCD axions over almost a decade of parameter space, potentially discovering dark matter and resolving the Strong CP problem. Unlike traditional cavity haloscopes, which are generally limited in volume by the Compton wavelength of the dark matter, plasma haloscopes use a wire metamaterial to create a tuneable artificial plasma frequency, decoupling the wavelength of light from the Compton wavelength and allowing for much stronger signals. We develop the theoretical foundations of plasma haloscopes and discuss recent experimental progress. Finally, we outline a baseline design for ALPHA and show that a full-scale experiment could discover QCD axions over almost a decade of parameter space.

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A. Millar, S. Anlage, R. Balafendiev, et. al.
Tue, 4 Oct 22
27/71

Comments: Endorsers: Jens Dilling, Michael Febbraro, Stefan Knirck, and Claire Marvinney. 26 pages, 17 figures

The low-energy spectrum in DAMIC at SNOLAB [CEA]

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http://arxiv.org/abs/2210.00587


The DAMIC experiment employs large-area, thick charge-coupled devices (CCDs) to search for the interactions of low-mass dark matter particles in the galactic halo with silicon atoms in the CCD target. From 2017 to 2019, DAMIC collected data with a seven-CCD array (40-gram target) installed in the SNOLAB underground laboratory. We report dark-matter search results, including a conspicuous excess of events above the background model below 200 eV$_{\rm ee}$, whose origin remains unknown. We present details of the published spectral analysis, and update on the deployment of skipper CCDs to perform a more precise measurement by early 2023.

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A. Chavarria
Tue, 4 Oct 22
50/71

Comments: Proceedings for the 14th International Conference on Identification of Dark Matter, Submission to SciPost

High Altitude characterization of the Hunga Pressure Wave with Cosmic Rays by the HAWC Observatory [HEAP]

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http://arxiv.org/abs/2209.15110


High-energy cosmic rays that hit the Earth can be used to study large-scale atmospheric perturbations. After a first interaction in the upper parts of the atmosphere, cosmic rays produce a shower of particles that sample the atmosphere down to the detector level. The HAWC (High-Altitude Water Cherenkov) cosmic-ray observatory in Central Mexico at 4,100 m elevation detects air shower particles continuously with 300 water Cherenkov detectors with an active area of 12,500 m$^{2}$. On January 15th, 2022, HAWC detected the passage of the pressure wave created by the explosion of the Hunga volcano in the Tonga islands, 9,000 km away, as an anomaly in the measured rate of shower particles. The HAWC measurements are used to characterize the shape of four pressure wave passages, determine the propagation speed of each one, and correlate the variations of the shower particle rates with the barometric pressure changes, extracting a barometric parameter. The profile of the shower particle rate and atmospheric pressure variations for the first transit of the pressure wave at HAWC is compared to the pressure measurements at Tonga island, near the volcanic explosion. This work opens the possibility of using large particle cosmic-ray air shower detectors to trace large atmospheric transient waves.

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R. Alfaro, C. Alvarez, J. Arteaga-Velázquez, et. al.
Mon, 3 Oct 22
7/55

Comments: Contact about this analysis: A. Sandoval (asandoval@fisica.unam.mx), A. Lara (alara@igeofisica.unam.mx) & H. Le\’on Vargas (hleonvar@fisica.unam.mx)

X-ray performance of a customized large-format scientifc CMOS detector [IMA]

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http://arxiv.org/abs/2209.15295


In recent years, the performance of Scientifc Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor (sCMOS) sensors has been improved signifcantly. Compared with CCD sensors, sCMOS sensors have various advantages, making them potentially better devices for optical and X-ray detection, especially in time-domain astronomy. After a series of tests of sCMOS sensors, we proposed a new dedicated high-speed, large-format X-ray detector in 2016 cooperating with Gpixel Inc. This new sCMOS sensor has a physical size of 6 cm by 6 cm, with an array of 4096 by 4096 pixels and a pixel size of 15 um. The frame rate is 20.1 fps under current condition and can be boosted to a maximum value around 100 fps. The epitaxial thickness is increased to 10 um compared to the previous sCMOS product. We show the results of its frst taped-out product in this work. The dark current of this sCMOS is lower than 10 e/pixel/s at 20C, and lower than 0.02 e/pixel/s at -30C. The Fixed Pattern Noise (FPN) and the readout noise are lower than 5 e in high-gain situation and show a small increase at low temperature. The energy resolution reaches 180.1 eV (3.1%) at 5.90 keV for single-pixel events and 212.3 eV (3.6%) for all split events. The continuous X-ray spectrum measurement shows that this sensor is able to response to X-ray photons from 500 eV to 37 keV. The excellent performance, as demonstrated from these test results, makes sCMOS sensor an ideal detector for X-ray imaging and spectroscopic application.

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Q. Wu, Z. Jia, W. Wang, et. al.
Mon, 3 Oct 22
43/55

Comments: 20 pages. published in PASP

Letter of Interest: Ocean science with the Pacific Ocean Neutrino Experiment [CL]

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http://arxiv.org/abs/2209.14710


The Pacific Ocean Neutrino Experiment (P-ONE) is a proposed cubic-kilometer scale neutrino telescope planned to be installed in the deep-sea of the north-east Pacific Ocean. In collaboration with the optical deep-sea data and communications network operated by Ocean Networks Canada, an international collaboration of researchers plans to install an array of kilometer-long mooring lines in a depth of around 2660 m to the relatively flat deep-sea region called Cascadia Basin, around 300 miles West of Vancouver Island. With the design and development ongoing, the P-ONE collaboration is interested to initiate participation of fellow scientists of the oceanographic and marine science communities to provide expertise and experience towards deploying additional or inclusive instrumentation and measurement strategies for doing oceanographic research. In addition to the monitoring of optical bioluminescence and deep-ocean dynamics and thermodynamics, active and passive acoustics can be installed within the P-ONE array. This letter summarizes the P-ONE detector and a non-exhaustive list of potential topics of interest for oceanographic and marine research.

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F. Henningsen and L. Schumacher
Fri, 30 Sep 22
5/71

Comments: N/A

Solar neutrino physics [CL]

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http://arxiv.org/abs/2209.14832


As a free, intensive, rarely interactive and well directional messenger, solar neutrinos have been driving both solar physics and neutrino physics developments for more than half a century. Since more extensive and advanced neutrino experiments are under construction, being planned or proposed, we are striving toward an era of precise and comprehensive measurement of solar neutrinos in the next decades. In this article, we review recent theoretical and experimental progress achieved in solar neutrino physics. We present not only an introduction to neutrinos from the standard solar model and the standard flavor evolution, but also a compilation of a variety of new physics that could affect and hence be probed by solar neutrinos. After reviewing the latest techniques and issues involved in the measurement of solar neutrino spectra and background reduction, we provide our anticipation on the physics gains from the new generation of neutrino experiments.

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X. Xu, Z. Wang and S. Chen
Fri, 30 Sep 22
26/71

Comments: 68 pages, many figures, review invited by Progress in Particle and Nuclear. Comments and suggestions are welcome

Improving ANAIS-112 sensitivity to DAMA/LIBRA signal with machine learning techniques [IMA]

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http://arxiv.org/abs/2209.14113


The DAMA/LIBRA observation of an annual modulation in the detection rate compatible with that expected for dark matter particles from the galactic halo has accumulated evidence for more than twenty years. It is the only hint of a direct detection of the elusive dark matter, but it is in strong tension with the negative results of other very sensitive experiments, requiring ad-hoc scenarios to reconcile all the present experimental results. Testing the DAMA/LIBRA result using the same target material, NaI(Tl), removes the dependence on the particle and halo models and is the goal of the ANAIS-112 experiment, taking data at the Canfranc Underground Laboratory in Spain since August 2017 with 112.5 kg of NaI(Tl). At very low energies, the detection rate is dominated by non-bulk scintillation events and careful event selection is mandatory. This article summarizes the efforts devoted to better characterize and filter this contribution in ANAIS-112 data using a boosted decision tree (BDT), trained for this goal with high efficiency. We report on the selection of the training populations, the procedure to determine the optimal cut on the BDT parameter, the estimate of the efficiencies for the selection of bulk scintillation in the region of interest (ROI), and the evaluation of the performance of this analysis with respect to the previous filtering. The improvement achieved in background rejection in the ROI, but moreover, the increase in detection efficiency, push the ANAIS-112 sensitivity to test the DAMA/LIBRA annual modulation result beyond 3$\sigma$ with three-year exposure, being possible to reach 5$\sigma$ by extending the data taking for a few more years than the scheduled 5 years which were due in August 2022.

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I. Coarasa, J. Apilluelo, J. Amaré, et. al.
Thu, 29 Sep 22
30/70

Comments: N/A

Design and test results of scientific X-ray CMOS cameras [IMA]

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http://arxiv.org/abs/2209.13163


In recent years, scientific CMOS (sCMOS) sensors have found increasing applications to X-ray detection, including X-ray astronomical observations. In order to examine the performance of sCMOS sensors, we have developed X-ray cameras based on sCMOS sensors. Two cameras, CNX22 and CNX 66, have been developed using sCMOS sensors with a photosensitive area of 2 cm * 2 cm and 6 cm * 6 cm, respectively. The designs of the cameras are presented in this paper. The CNX22 camera has a frame rate of 48 fps, whereas CNX66 has a frame rate of currently 20 fps, that can be boosted to 100 fps in the future. The operating temperature of the sCMOS sensor can reach to -20C for CNX22 and -30C for CNX66 with a peltier cooler device. In addition to the commonly used mode of saving original images, the cameras provide a mode of real-time extraction of X-ray events and storage their information, which significantly reduces the requirement for data storage and offline analysis work. For both cameras, the energy resolutions can reach less than 200 eV at 5.9 keV using single-pixel events. These cameras are suitable for X-ray spectroscopy applications in laboratories and calibration for the space X-ray telescopes.

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W. Wang, Z. Ling, C. Zhang, et. al.
Wed, 28 Sep 22
63/89

Comments: 7 pages, 5 figures, published by Proc SPIE 2022

Axion detection with phonon-polaritons revisited [CL]

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http://arxiv.org/abs/2209.12909


In the presence of a background magnetic field, axion dark matter induces an electric field and can thus excite phonon-polaritons in suitable materials. We revisit the calculation of the axion-photon conversion power output from such materials, accounting for finite volume effects, and material losses. Our calculation shows how phonon-polaritons can be converted to propagating photons at the material boundary, offering a route to detecting the signal. Using the dielectric functions of GaAs, Al$_2$O$_3$, and SiO$_2$, a fit to our loss model leads to a signal of lower magnitude than previous calculations. We demonstrate how knowledge of resonances in the dielectric function can directly be used to calculate the sensitivity of any material to axion dark matter. We argue that a combination of low losses encountered at $\mathcal{O}(1)$ K temperatures and near future improvements in detector dark count allow one to probe the QCD axion in the mass range $m_a\approx 100$ meV. This provides further impetus to examine novel materials and further develop detectors in the THz regime. We also discuss possible tuning methods to scan the axion mass.

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D. Marsh, J. McDonald, A. Millar, et. al.
Wed, 28 Sep 22
77/89

Comments: 13 pages, 2 figures, 1 table, comments welcome

Probing high-energy solar axion flux with a large scintillation neutrino detector [CL]

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http://arxiv.org/abs/2209.11780


We investigate the 5.49 MeV solar axions flux produced in the $p(d,\, ^{3}{\rm He})a$ reaction and analyze the potential to detect it with the forthcoming large underground neutrino oscillation experiment Jiangmen Underground Neutrino Observatory (JUNO). The JUNO detector could reveal axions through various processes such as Compton and inverse Primakoff conversion, as well as through their decay into two photons or electron-positron pairs inside the detector. We perform a detailed numerical analysis in order to forecast the sensitivity on different combinations of the axion-electron ($ g_{ae} $), axion-photon ($g_{a\gamma}$), and isovector axion-nucleon ($ g_{3aN} $) couplings, using the expected JUNO data for different benchmark values of axion mass in a model-independent way. We find that JUNO would improve by approximately one order of magnitude current bounds by Borexino and it has the best sensitivity among neutrino experiments.

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G. Lucente, N. Nath, F. Capozzi, et. al.
Tue, 27 Sep 22
60/89

Comments: 21 pages, 7 figures

Searching for Gravitational Waves with CMS [CL]

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http://arxiv.org/abs/2209.12024


The idea of searching for gravitational waves using cavities in strong magnetic fields has recently received significant attention. Most concepts foresee moderate magnetic fields in rather small volumes, similar to those which are currently employed for axion-like particle searches. We propose to use the magnet system of the Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) experiment after the high luminosity phase of the LHC as a key component for a future detector for gravitational waves in the MHz frequency range. In this paper we briefly discuss a possible cavity concept which can be integrated into CMS and additionally provide a first estimation of its possible sensitivity.

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K. Schmieden and M. Schott
Tue, 27 Sep 22
61/89

Comments: 4 pages, 2 figures

Halo-Independent Dark Matter Electron Scattering Analysis with In-Medium Effects [CL]

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http://arxiv.org/abs/2209.10902


Dark matter (DM)-electron scattering is a prime target of a number of direct DM detection experiments and constitutes a promising avenue for exploring interactions of DM in the sub-GeV mass-range, challenging to probe with nuclear recoils. We extend the recently proposed halo-independent analysis method for DM-electron scattering, which allows to infer the local DM halo properties without any additional assumptions about them, to include in-medium effects through dielectric functions of the target material. We show that in-medium effects could significantly affect halo-independent analysis response functions for germanium and silicon and thus are essential for proper inference of local DM halo characteristics from direct DM detection data.

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M. Chen, G. Gelmini and V. Takhistov
Fri, 23 Sep 22
21/70

Comments: 9 pages, 5 figures

Freeze-Out Forbidden Dark Matter in the Hidden Sector in the mass range from sub-GeV to TeV [CL]

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http://arxiv.org/abs/2209.10827


Kinematically forbidden channels can set the freeze-out dark matter (DM) relic abundance. These channels are described by DM annihilations into heavier states, which vanish at zero temperature limit, but occur at finite temperatures in the early Universe. For the case that the final state of the forbidden channel is scalar mediators that couple to Standard Model (SM) matter through mixing with the SM Higgs, the signals from DM-nucleon interactions and from mediator-related missing energy or displaced vertices could be detected by direct detections and particle physics experiments, respectively. We thus present a study on the simplest secluded vector dark matter model that can exhibit this scenario in the mass range from sub-GeV to TeV. The dark matter resides in the hidden sector, which is in thermal equilibrium with the SM before freeze-out. During freeze-out, the depletion of its density results from its annihilation into two heavier but metastable scalars, where the coupling can be determined by having the correct relic density and constrained by the perturbative unitarity bound. However, much of the allowed parameter space is insensitive to the mixing angle between the hidden scalar and SM Higgs. We find that a more significant mass splitting between DM and the mediator can be allowed only in the sub-GeV region. This model of the forbidden DM interacting with SM particles through the scalar portal is testable in experiments.

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K. Yang
Fri, 23 Sep 22
70/70

Comments: 44 pages, 7 figures, 1 table

Neutron Tagging following Atmospheric Neutrino Events in a Water Cherenkov Detector [CL]

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http://arxiv.org/abs/2209.08609


We present the development of neutron-tagging techniques in Super-Kamiokande IV using a neural network analysis. The detection efficiency of neutron capture on hydrogen is estimated to be 26%, with a mis-tag rate of 0.016 per neutrino event. The uncertainty of the tagging efficiency is estimated to be 9.0%. Measurement of the tagging efficiency with data from an Americium-Beryllium calibration agrees with this value within 10%. The tagging procedure was performed on 3,244.4 days of SK-IV atmospheric neutrino data, identifying 18,091 neutrons in 26,473 neutrino events. The fitted neutron capture lifetime was measured as 218 \pm 9 \mu s.

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K. Abe, Y. Haga, Y. Hayato, et. al.
Tue, 20 Sep 22
5/81

Comments: N/A

Challenges for dark matter direct search with SiPMs [CL]

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http://arxiv.org/abs/2209.09224


Liquid xenon and liquid argon detectors are leading the direct dark matter search and are expected to be the candidate technology for the forthcoming generation of ultra-sensitive large-mass detectors. At present, the scintillation light detection in those experiments is based on ultra-pure low-noise photo-multipliers. To overcome the issues in terms of the extreme radio-purity, costs, and technological feasibility of the future dark matter experiments, the novel SiPM-based photo-detector modules look promising candidates, capable of replacing the present light detection technology. However, the intrinsic features of SiPMs may limit the present expectations. In particular, interfering phenomena, especially related to the optical correlated noise, can degrade the energy and pulse shape resolutions. As a consequence, the projected sensitivity of the future detectors has to be reconsidered accordingly.

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A. Razeto and N. Rossi
Tue, 20 Sep 22
25/81

Comments: 10 pages, 8 figures

Report of the Topical Group on Cosmic Frontier 5 Dark Energy and Cosmic Acceleration: Cosmic Dawn and Before for Snowmass 2021 [CL]

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http://arxiv.org/abs/2209.08265


This report summarizes the envisioned research activities as gathered from the Snowmass 2021 CF5 working group concerning Dark Energy and Cosmic Acceleration: Cosmic Dawn and Before. The scientific goals are to study inflation and to search for new physics through precision measurements of relic radiation from the early universe. The envisioned research activities for this decade (2025-35) are constructing and operating major facilities and developing critical enabling capabilities. The major facilities for this decade are the CMB-S4 project, a new Stage-V spectroscopic survey facility, and existing gravitational wave observatories. Enabling capabilities include aligning and investing in theory, computation and model building, and investing in new technologies needed for early universe studies in the following decade (2035+).

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C. Chang, L. Newburgh, D. Shoemaker, et. al.
Tue, 20 Sep 22
32/81

Comments: contribution to Snowmass 2021

Report of the Topical Group on Cosmic Probes of Dark Matter for Snowmass 2021 [CL]

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http://arxiv.org/abs/2209.08215


Cosmological and astrophysical observations currently provide the the only robust, positive evidence for dark matter. Cosmic probes of dark matter, which seek to determine the fundamental properties of dark matter through observations of the cosmos, have emerged as a promising means to reveal the nature of dark matter. This report summarizes the current status and future potential of cosmic probes to inform our understanding of the fundamental nature of dark matter in the coming decade.

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A. Drlica-Wagner, C. Prescod-Weinstein, H. Yu, et. al.
Tue, 20 Sep 22
36/81

Comments: Submitted 35 pages, 10 figures, many references, Report of the CF3 Topical Group for Snowmass 2021

General History of X-Ray Polarimetry in Astrophysics [IMA]

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http://arxiv.org/abs/2209.08181


Soon after the discovery of the first extrasolar X-Ray sources it was suggested that polarimetry could play a major role as a diagnostic tool. Attempts to measure polarization of X-Ray sources was performed by the team of Columbia University lead by Robert Novick. The technique of Bragg diffraction at 45{\deg} was successful to detect the polarization of the Crab with rockets and with OSO-8 satellite. In the following evolution of X-Ray Astronomy, Polarimetry was too mismatched with the improved sensitivity of imaging and spectroscopy, based on the use of optics. As a consequence no polarimeter was flown any more. At the beginning of the century a new class of instruments based on the photoelectric effect were developed. In the focus of an X-Ray telescope they can perform angular, energy and time resolved polarimetry and benefit of the large increase of sensitivity due to the optics. The Imaging X-Ray Polarimetry Explorer, exploiting this technique, was launched at the end of 2021.

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E. Costa
Tue, 20 Sep 22
37/81

Comments: 19 pages, no figure, Invited Chapter for the “Handbook of X-Ray and Gamma-Ray Astrophysics” (Eds. C.Bambi and A.Santangelo, Springer Singapore, expected in 2022)

Report of the Topical Group on Dark Energy and Cosmic Acceleration: Complementarity of Probes and New Facilities for Snowmass 2021 [CEA]

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http://arxiv.org/abs/2209.08654


The mechanism(s) driving the early- and late-time accelerated expansion of the Universe represent one of the most compelling mysteries in fundamental physics today. The path to understanding the causes of early- and late-time acceleration depends on fully leveraging ongoing surveys, developing and demonstrating new technologies, and constructing and operating new instruments. This report presents a multi-faceted vision for the cosmic survey program in the 2030s and beyond that derives from these considerations. Cosmic surveys address a wide range of fundamental physics questions, and are thus a unique and powerful component of the HEP experimental portfolio.

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B. Flaugher, V. Miranda, D. Schlegel, et. al.
Tue, 20 Sep 22
54/81

Comments: Submitted to the Proceedings of the US Community Study on the Future of Particle Physics (Snowmass 2021); Topical Group Report for CF06 (Cosmic Frontier Topical Group on Dark Energy and Cosmic Acceleration: Complementarity of Probes and New Facilities

Snowmass2021 Cosmic Frontier: Report of the CF04 Topical Group on Dark Energy and Cosmic Acceleration in the Modern Universe [CEA]

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http://arxiv.org/abs/2209.08049


Cosmological observations in the new millennium have dramatically increased our understanding of the Universe, but several fundamental questions remain unanswered. This topical group report describes the best opportunities to address these questions over the coming decades by extending observations to the $z<6$ universe. The greatest opportunity to revolutionize our understanding of cosmic acceleration both in the modern universe and the inflationary epoch would be provided by a new Stage V Spectroscopic Facility (Spec-S5) which would combine a large telescope aperture, wide field of view, and high multiplexing. Such a facility could simultaneously provide a dense sample of galaxies at lower redshifts to provide robust measurements of the growth of structure at small scales, as well as a sample at redshifts $2<z<5$ to measure cosmic structure at the largest scales, spanning a sufficient volume to probe primordial non-Gaussianity from inflation, to search for features in the inflationary power spectrum on a broad range of scales, to test dark energy models in poorly-explored regimes, and to determine the total neutrino mass and effective number of light relics. A number of compelling opportunities at smaller scales should also be pursued alongside Spec-S5. The science collaborations analyzing DESI and LSST data will need funding for a variety of activities, including cross-survey simulations and combined analyses. The results from these experiments can be greatly improved by smaller programs to obtain complementary data, including follow-up studies of supernovae and spectroscopy to improve photometric redshift measurements. The best future use of the Vera C. Rubin Observatory should be evaluated later this decade after the first LSST analyses have been done. Finally, investments in pathfinder projects could enable powerful new probes of cosmology to come online in future decades.

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J. Annis, J. Newman and A. Slosar
Mon, 19 Sep 22
27/50

Comments: Topical Group Report for CF04 (Dark Energy and Cosmic Acceleration in the Modern Universe) for Snowmass 2021

Neutrino forces in neutrino backgrounds [CL]

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http://arxiv.org/abs/2209.07082


The Standard Model predicts a long-range force between fermions due to the exchange of a pair of neutrinos. However, this quantum force, proportional to $G_F^2/r^5$ in the massless neutrino limit, is feeble and has not yet been observed in experiments. In this paper, we compute this force, including the background effect caused by cosmic, reactor, and solar neutrinos. We find that the neutrino force can be significantly stronger in the presence of neutrino backgrounds. Remarkably, reactor neutrino background can strengthen the neutrino force by more than 20 orders of magnitude compared with the one in vacuum. We discuss the experimental prospects of detecting the neutrino force in neutrino backgrounds and find that the effect is close to the available sensitivity of the current fifth force experiments. The results are encouraging and a detailed experimental study is called for to check if the effect can be probed.

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M. Ghosh, Y. Grossman, W. Tangarife, et. al.
Fri, 16 Sep 22
12/84

Comments: 30 pages, 4 figures, 4 tables; comments are welcome

Report of the Topical Group on Particle Dark Matter for Snowmass 2021 [CL]

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http://arxiv.org/abs/2209.07426


This report summarizes the findings of the CF1 Topical Subgroup to Snowmass 2021, which was focused on particle dark matter. One of the most important scientific goals of the next decade is to reveal the nature of dark matter (DM). To accomplish this goal, we must delve deep, to cover high priority targets including weakly-interacting massive particles (WIMPs), and search wide, to explore as much motivated DM parameter space as possible. A diverse, continuous portfolio of experiments at large, medium, and small scales that includes both direct and indirect detection techniques maximizes the probability of discovering particle DM. Detailed calibrations and modeling of signal and background processes are required to make a convincing discovery. In the event that a candidate particle is found through different means, for example at a particle collider, the program described in this report is also essential to show that it is consistent with the actual cosmological DM. The US has a leading role in both direct and indirect detection dark matter experiments — to maintain this leading role, it is imperative to continue funding major experiments and support a robust R\&D program.

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J. Cooley, T. Lin, W. Lippincott, et. al.
Fri, 16 Sep 22
23/84

Comments: Submitted 30 pages, 11 figures, many references, Report of the CF1 Topical Group for Snowmass 2021

Signal readout for Transition-Edge Sensor X-ray imaging spectrometers [IMA]

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http://arxiv.org/abs/2209.05621


Arrays of low-temperature microcalorimeters provide a promising technology for X-ray astrophysics: the imaging spectrometer. A camera with at least several thousand pixels, each of which has an energy-resolving power ($E/\Delta E\urss{FWHM}$) of a few thousand across a broad energy range (200~eV to 10~keV or higher), would be a revolutionary instrument for the study of energetic astrophysical objects and phenomena. Signal readout is a critical enabling technology. Multiplexed readout, in which signals from multiple pixels are combined into a single amplifier channel, allows a kilo pixel-scale microcalorimeter array to meet the stringent requirements for power consumption, mass, volume, and cooling capacity in orbit. This chapter describes three different multiplexed-readout technologies for transition-edge-sensor microcalorimeters: time-division multiplexing, frequency-domain multiplexing, and microwave-SQUID multiplexing. For each multiplexing technique, we present the basic method, discuss some design considerations and parameters, and show the state of the art. The chapter concludes with a brief discussion of future prospects.

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H. Akamatsu, W. Doriese, J. Mates, et. al.
Wed, 14 Sep 22
90/90

Comments: 50 pages, 23 figures. This Chapter will appear in the Section “Detectors for X-ray Astrophysics” (Section Editors: J-W. den Harder, M. Feroci, N. Meidinger) of the “Handbook of X-ray and Gamma-ray Astrophysics” (Editors in chief: C. Bambi and A. Santangelo)

Dark Sector Physics at High-Intensity Experiments [CL]

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http://arxiv.org/abs/2209.04671


Is Dark Matter part of a Dark Sector? The possibility of a dark sector neutral under Standard Model (SM) forces furnishes an attractive explanation for the existence of Dark Matter (DM), and is a compelling new-physics direction to explore in its own right, with potential relevance to fundamental questions as varied as neutrino masses, the hierarchy problem, and the Universe’s matter-antimatter asymmetry. Because dark sectors are generically weakly coupled to ordinary matter, and because they can naturally have MeV-to-GeV masses and respect the symmetries of the SM, they are only mildly constrained by high-energy collider data and precision atomic measurements. Yet upcoming and proposed intensity-frontier experiments will offer an unprecedented window into the physics of dark sectors, highlighted as a Priority Research Direction in the 2018 Dark Matter New Initiatives (DMNI) BRN report. Support for this program — in the form of dark-sector analyses at multi-purpose experiments, realization of the intensity-frontier experiments receiving DMNI funds, an expansion of DMNI support to explore the full breadth of DM and visible final-state signatures (especially long-lived particles) called for in the BRN report, and support for a robust dark-sector theory effort — will enable comprehensive exploration of low-mass thermal DM milestones, and greatly enhance the potential of intensity-frontier experiments to discover dark-sector particles decaying back to SM particles.

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S. Gori, M. Williams, P. Ilten, et. al.
Tue, 13 Sep 22
15/85

Comments: Report of the RF6 Topical Group for Snowmass 2021

X-ray detection of a nova in the fireball phase [HEAP]

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http://arxiv.org/abs/2209.05125


Novae are caused by runaway thermonuclear burning in the hydrogen-rich envelopes of accreting white dwarfs, which results in the envelope to expand rapidly and to eject most of its mass. For more than 30 years, nova theory has predicted the existence of a “fireball” phase following directly the runaway fusion, which should be observable as a short, bright, and soft X-ray flash before the nova becomes visible in the optical. Here we present the unequivocal detection of an extremely bright and very soft X-ray flash of the classical Galactic nova YZ Reticuli 11 hours prior to its 9 mag optical brightening. No X-ray source was detected 4 hours before and after the event, constraining the duration of the flash to shorter than 8 hours. In agreement with theoretical predictions, the source’s spectral shape is consistent with a black body of $3.27^{+0.11}{-0.33}\times 10^5$ K ($28.2^{+0.9}{-2.8}$ eV), or a white dwarf atmosphere, radiating at the Eddington luminosity, with a photosphere that is only slightly larger than a typical white dwarf. This detection of the expanding white dwarf photosphere before the ejection of the envelope provides the last link of the predicted photospheric lightcurve evolution and opens a new window to measure the total nova energetics.

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O. König, J. Wilms, R. Arcodia, et. al.
Tue, 13 Sep 22
34/85

Comments: Published in Nature on 11 May 2022

Micro-Pattern Gaseous Detectors [CL]

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http://arxiv.org/abs/2209.05202


This is a summary of White Papers on micro-pattern gaseous detectors, submitted to Instrumentation Frontier Group ‘IF5’, as part of the Snowmass 2021 decadal survey of particle physics.

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B. Surrow, M. Titov, S. Vahsen, et. al.
Tue, 13 Sep 22
70/85

Comments: contribution to Snowmass 2021

Search for relativistic fractionally charged particles in space [HEAP]

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http://arxiv.org/abs/2209.04260


More than a century after the performance of the oil drop experiment, the possible existence of fractionally charged particles FCP still remains unsettled. The search for FCPs is crucial for some extensions of the Standard Model in particle physics. Most of the previously conducted searches for FCPs in cosmic rays were based on experiments underground or at high altitudes. However, there have been few searches for FCPs in cosmic rays carried out in orbit other than AMS-01 flown by a space shuttle and BESS by a balloon at the top of the atmosphere. In this study, we conduct an FCP search in space based on on-orbit data obtained using the DArk Matter Particle Explorer (DAMPE) satellite over a period of five years. Unlike underground experiments, which require an FCP energy of the order of hundreds of GeV, our FCP search starts at only a few GeV. An upper limit of $6.2\times 10^{-10}~~\mathrm{cm^{-2}sr^{-1} s^{-1}}$ is obtained for the flux. Our results demonstrate that DAMPE exhibits higher sensitivity than experiments of similar types by three orders of magnitude that more stringently restricts the conditions for the existence of FCP in primary cosmic rays.

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D. Collaboration, F. Alemanno, C. Altomare, et. al.
Mon, 12 Sep 22
3/54

Comments: 19 pages, 6 figures, accepted by PRD

The MegaMapper: A Stage-5 Spectroscopic Instrument Concept for the Study of Inflation and Dark Energy [IMA]

Posted on by

http://arxiv.org/abs/2209.04322


In this white paper, we present the MegaMapper concept. The MegaMapper is a proposed ground-based experiment to measure Inflation parameters and Dark Energy from galaxy redshifts at $2<z<5$. In order to achieve path-breaking results with a mid-scale investment, the MegaMapper combines existing technologies for critical path elements and pushes innovative development in other design areas. To this aim, we envision a 6.5-m Magellan-like telescope, with a newly designed wide field, coupled with DESI spectrographs, and small-pitch robots to achieve multiplexing of at least 26,000. This will match the expected achievable target density in the redshift range of interest and provide a 10x capability over the existing state-of the art, without a 10x increase in project budget.

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D. Schlegel, J. Kollmeier, G. Aldering, et. al.
Mon, 12 Sep 22
14/54

Comments: Contributed White Paper to Snowmass 2021. arXiv admin note: substantial text overlap with arXiv:1907.11171. text overlap with arXiv:2209.03585

Snowmass 2021 topical group report: Neutrinos from Natural Sources [CL]

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http://arxiv.org/abs/2209.04298


This is the final report from the Snowmass 2021 Neutrino Frontier Topical Group on Neutrinos from Natural Sources. It covers a broad range of neutrino sources, from low-energy neutrinos from the early universe to ultra high-energy sources. We divide this report by source, and discuss the motivations for pursuing searches in each case, the current state of the field, and the prospects for future theoretical and experimental developments. We consider neutrinos produced in the early universe; solar neutrinos; geoneutrinos; supernova neutrinos, including the diffuse supernova neutrino background (DSNB); neutrinos produced in the atmosphere; and high-energy astrophysical neutrinos.

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Y. Koshio, G. Gann, E. O’Sullivan, et. al.
Mon, 12 Sep 22
29/54

Comments: Topical Group Report for NF04 (Neutrino Frontier Topical Group on Neutrinos From Natural Sources) for Snowmass 2021, 42 pages

A Spectroscopic Road Map for Cosmic Frontier: DESI, DESI-II, Stage-5 [CEA]

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http://arxiv.org/abs/2209.03585


In this white paper, we present an experimental road map for spectroscopic experiments beyond DESI. DESI will be a transformative cosmological survey in the 2020s, mapping 40 million galaxies and quasars and capturing a significant fraction of the available linear modes up to z=1.2. DESI-II will pilot observations of galaxies both at much higher densities and extending to higher redshifts. A Stage-5 experiment would build out those high-density and high-redshift observations, mapping hundreds of millions of stars and galaxies in three dimensions, to address the problems of inflation, dark energy, light relativistic species, and dark matter. These spectroscopic data will also complement the next generation of weak lensing, line intensity mapping and CMB experiments and allow them to reach their full potential.

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D. Schlegel, S. Ferraro, G. Aldering, et. al.
Fri, 9 Sep 22
5/76

Comments: Contribution to Snowmass 2021

Dark matter substructures affect dark matter-electron scattering in direct detection experiments [CL]

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http://arxiv.org/abs/2208.14471


Recent sky surveys have discovered a large number of stellar substructures. It is highly likely that there are dark matter (DM) counterparts to these stellar substructures. We examine the implications of DM substructures for electron recoil (ER) direct detection (DD) rates in dual phase xenon experiments. We have utilized the results of the LAMOST survey and considered a few benchmark substructures in our analysis. Assuming that these substructures constitute $\sim 10\%$ of the local DM density, we study the discovery limits of DM-electron scattering cross sections considering one kg-year exposure and 1, 2, and 3 electron thresholds. With this exposure and threshold, it is possible to observe the effect of the considered DM substructure for the currently allowed parameter space. We also explore the sensitivity of these experiments in resolving the DM substructure fraction. For all the considered cases, we observe that DM having mass $\mathcal{O}(10)\,$MeV has a better prospect in resolving substructure fraction as compared to $\mathcal{O}(100)\,$MeV scale DM. We also find that within the currently allowed DM-electron scattering cross-section; these experiments can resolve the substructure fraction (provided it has a non-negligible contribution to the local DM density) with good accuracy for $\mathcal{O}(10)\,$MeV DM mass with one electron threshold.

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T. Maity and R. Laha
Fri, 9 Sep 22
18/76

Comments: 29 pages, 9 figures. Comments and suggestions are welcome

Bracketing the direct detection exclusion plot for a WIMP of spin one half in non-relativistic effective theory [CL]

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http://arxiv.org/abs/2209.03646


Assuming a standard Maxwellian velocity distribution for the WIMPs in the halo of our Galaxy we use the null results of an exhaustive set of 6 direct detection experiments to calculate the maximal variation of the exclusion plot for each Wilson coefficient of the most general Galilean-invariant effective Hamiltonian for a WIMP of spin one half due to interferences. We consider 56 Wilson coefficients $c_i^{p,n}$ and $\alpha_i^{n,p}$ for WIMP-proton and WIMP-neutron contact interactions ${\cal O}i^{p,n}$ and the corresponding long range interaction ${\cal O}_i^{p,n}/q^2$, parameterized by a massless propagator $1/q^2$. For each coupling we provide a different exclusion plot when the following set of operators is allowed to interfere: proton-neutron, i.e. $c_i^{p}$-$c_i^{n}$ or $\alpha_i^{p}$-$\alpha_i^{n}$; contact-contact or long range-long range, i.e. $c_i^{p,n}$-$c_j^{p,n}$ or $\alpha_i^{p,n}$-$\alpha_j^{p,n}$; contact-long range, i.e. $c_i^{p,n}$-$\alpha_j^{p,n}$. For each of the 56 Wilson coefficients $c_i^{p,n}$ and $\alpha_j^{p,n}$ and for the largest number of interfering operators the exclusion plot variation can reach 3 orders of magnitude and reduces to a factor as small as a few for the Wilson coefficients of the effective interactions where the WIMP couples to the nuclear spin, thanks to the combination of experiments using proton-odd and neutron-odd targets. Some of the conservative bounds require an extremely high level of cancellation, putting into question the reliability of the result. We analyze this issue in a systematic way, showing that it affects some of the couplings driven by the operators ${\cal O}{1}$, ${\cal O}{3}$, ${\cal O}{11}$, ${\cal O}{12}$ and ${\cal O}{15}$, especially when interferences among contact and long range interactions are considered.

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S. Kang, I. Jeong and S. Scopel
Fri, 9 Sep 22
67/76

Comments: 35 pages, 14 figures, 2 tables

Wideband Direct Detection Constraints on Hidden Photon Dark Matter with the QUALIPHIDE Experiment [CEA]

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http://arxiv.org/abs/2209.03419


We report direction detection constraints on the presence of hidden photon dark matter with masses between 20-30 ueV using a cryogenic emitter-receiver-amplifier spectroscopy setup designed as the first iteration of QUALIPHIDE (QUantum LImited PHotons In the Dark Experiment). A metallic dish sources conversion photons from hidden photon kinetic mixing onto a horn antenna which is coupled to a C-band kinetic inductance traveling wave parametric amplifier, providing for near quantum-limited noise performance. We demonstrate a first probing of the kinetic mixing parameter “chi” to just above 10^-12 for the majority of hidden photon masses in this region. These results not only represent stringent constraints on new dark matter parameter space but are also the first demonstrated use of wideband quantum-limited amplification for astroparticle applications

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K. Ramanathan, N. Klimovich, R. Thakur, et. al.
Fri, 9 Sep 22
72/76

Comments: 6 Pages, 5 figures,

Dark matter substructures affect dark matter-electron scattering in direct detection experiments [CL]

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http://arxiv.org/abs/2208.14471


Recent sky surveys have discovered a large number of stellar substructures. It is highly likely that there are dark matter (DM) counterparts to these stellar substructures. We examine the implications of DM substructures for electron recoil (ER) direct detection (DD) rates in dual phase xenon experiments. We have utilized the results of the LAMOST survey and considered a few benchmark substructures in our analysis. Assuming that these substructures constitute $\sim 10\%$ of the local DM density, we study the discovery limits of DM-electron scattering cross sections considering one kg-year exposure and 1, 2, and 3 electron thresholds. With this exposure and threshold, it is possible to observe the effect of the considered DM substructure for the currently allowed parameter space. We also explore the sensitivity of these experiments in resolving the DM substructure fraction. For all the considered cases, we observe that DM having mass $\mathcal{O}(10)\,$MeV has a better prospect in resolving substructure fraction as compared to $\mathcal{O}(100)\,$MeV scale DM. We also find that within the currently allowed DM-electron scattering cross-section; these experiments can resolve the substructure fraction (provided it has a non-negligible contribution to the local DM density) with good accuracy for $\mathcal{O}(10)\,$MeV DM mass with one electron threshold.

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T. Maity and R. Laha
Thu, 8 Sep 22
47/77

Comments: 29 pages, 9 figures. Comments and suggestions are welcome

Graph Neural Networks for Low-Energy Event Classification & Reconstruction in IceCube [CL]

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http://arxiv.org/abs/2209.03042


IceCube, a cubic-kilometer array of optical sensors built to detect atmospheric and astrophysical neutrinos between 1 GeV and 1 PeV, is deployed 1.45 km to 2.45 km below the surface of the ice sheet at the South Pole. The classification and reconstruction of events from the in-ice detectors play a central role in the analysis of data from IceCube. Reconstructing and classifying events is a challenge due to the irregular detector geometry, inhomogeneous scattering and absorption of light in the ice and, below 100 GeV, the relatively low number of signal photons produced per event. To address this challenge, it is possible to represent IceCube events as point cloud graphs and use a Graph Neural Network (GNN) as the classification and reconstruction method. The GNN is capable of distinguishing neutrino events from cosmic-ray backgrounds, classifying different neutrino event types, and reconstructing the deposited energy, direction and interaction vertex. Based on simulation, we provide a comparison in the 1-100 GeV energy range to the current state-of-the-art maximum likelihood techniques used in current IceCube analyses, including the effects of known systematic uncertainties. For neutrino event classification, the GNN increases the signal efficiency by 18% at a fixed false positive rate (FPR), compared to current IceCube methods. Alternatively, the GNN offers a reduction of the FPR by over a factor 8 (to below half a percent) at a fixed signal efficiency. For the reconstruction of energy, direction, and interaction vertex, the resolution improves by an average of 13%-20% compared to current maximum likelihood techniques in the energy range of 1-30 GeV. The GNN, when run on a GPU, is capable of processing IceCube events at a rate nearly double of the median IceCube trigger rate of 2.7 kHz, which opens the possibility of using low energy neutrinos in online searches for transient events.

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R. Abbasi, M. Ackermann, J. Adams, et. al.
Thu, 8 Sep 22
49/77

Comments: Prepared for submission to JINST

Comparing Instrument Spectral Sensitivity of Dissimilar Electromagnetic Haloscopes to Axion Dark Matter and High Frequency Gravitational Waves [CL]

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http://arxiv.org/abs/2209.03004


It is known that axion haloscopes that operate to search for dark matter axions via the 2-photon anomaly are also sensitive to gravitational waves (GWs) through the inverse Gertsenshtein effect. Recently this way of searching for high frequency GWs has gained momentum as it has been shown that the strain sensitivity of such detectors, h_g, are of the same order of sensitivity as the axion-photon theta angle, \theta_a, which is related to the axion 2-photon coupling, g_{a\gamma\gamma}, by, \theta_a = g_{a\gamma\gamma}a, where, a, is the axion scalar field. This means after calculating the sensitivity of a haloscope to an axion signal, we also have calculated the order of magnitude sensitivity to a GW signal of the same spectral and temporal form. However, it is unlikely that a GW and an axion signal will be of the same form since physically the way the signals are generated are completely different. For GW detection, the spectral strain sensitivity in units strain per square root Hz, and is the natural way to compare the sensitivity of GW detectors due to its independence on the GW signal. Likewise, one can define a spectral axion-photon theta angle sensitivity in units of theta angle per square root Hz for axion detectors, which is independent of the axion signal. In this work we introduce a systematic way to calculate the spectral sensitivity of an axion haloscope so instrument comparison may be achieved independent of signal assumptions and only depends on the axion to signal transduction sensitivity and noise in the instrument. Thus, the calculation of the spectral sensitivity not only allows the comparison of dissimilar axion detectors independent of signal, but also allows comparison of the GW sensitivity in terms of spectral strain sensitivity, allowing comparisons to standard GW detectors based on optical interferometers and resonant-mass technology.

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M. Tobar, C. Thomson, W. Campbell, et. al.
Thu, 8 Sep 22
56/77

Comments: N/A

Radon variation measurements at the Yangyang underground laboratory [CL]

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http://arxiv.org/abs/2209.00737


From October 2004 to May 2022, the concentration of radon in the air was measured at a depth of 700 m in the Yangyang underground laboratory. The average rates in the two experimental areas, called A6 and A5, were measured as 53.4\pm0.2 Bq/m^3 and 33.5\pm0.1 Bq/m^3, respectively. The lower rate in the A5 area was caused by the improved temperature control and ventilation. In particular, these radon rates are correlated to the local temperature of the area, with a correlation coefficient r = 0.22. Therefore, the radon rates displayed a seasonal variation, because the local temperature driven by the overground season influences air ventilation in the experimental areas. A cosine fit on the annual residual rates exhibited the maximum amplitude on August 31 \pm 6 d every year.

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C. Ha, W. Kang, J. Kim, et. al.
Mon, 5 Sep 22
22/53

Comments: 6 pages, 6 figures

Dark Matter: DAMA/LIBRA and its perspectives [CL]

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http://arxiv.org/abs/2209.00882


The long-standing model-independent annual modulation effect measured by DAMA deep underground at Gran Sasso Laboratory with different experimental configurations is summarized and perspectives will be highlighted. DAMA/LIBRA-phase2 set-up, $\simeq$ 250 kg highly radio-pure NaI(Tl) confirms the evidence of a signal that meets all the requirements of the model independent Dark Matter annual modulation signature at high C.L.; the full exposure is 2.86 ton $\times$ yr over 22 annual cycles. The experiment is currently collecting data in the DAMA/LIBRA-phase2 empowered configuration with an even lower software energy threshold. Other recent claims are shortly commented.

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R. Bernabei, P. Belli, F. Cappella, et. al.
Mon, 5 Sep 22
25/53

Comments: Proceedings of IDM 2022, July 18-22, 2022. A Section is dedicated to rebut the arguments of arXiv:2208.05158

Dark Matter: DAMA/LIBRA and its perspectives [CL]

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http://arxiv.org/abs/2209.00882


The long-standing model-independent annual modulation effect measured by DAMA deep underground at Gran Sasso Laboratory with different experimental configurations is summarized and perspectives will be highlighted. DAMA/LIBRA-phase2 set-up, $\simeq$ 250 kg highly radio-pure NaI(Tl) confirms the evidence of a signal that meets all the requirements of the model independent Dark Matter annual modulation signature at high C.L.; the full exposure is 2.86 ton $\times$ yr over 22 annual cycles. The experiment is currently collecting data in the DAMA/LIBRA-phase2 empowered configuration with an even lower software energy threshold. Other recent claims are shortly commented.

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R. Bernabei, P. Belli, F. Cappella, et. al.
Mon, 5 Sep 22
11/53

Comments: Proceedings of IDM 2022, July 18-22, 2022. A Section is dedicated to rebut the arguments of arXiv:2208.05158

Radon variation measurements at the Yangyang underground laboratory [CL]

Posted on by

http://arxiv.org/abs/2209.00737


From October 2004 to May 2022, the concentration of radon in the air was measured at a depth of 700 m in the Yangyang underground laboratory. The average rates in the two experimental areas, called A6 and A5, were measured as 53.4\pm0.2 Bq/m^3 and 33.5\pm0.1 Bq/m^3, respectively. The lower rate in the A5 area was caused by the improved temperature control and ventilation. In particular, these radon rates are correlated to the local temperature of the area, with a correlation coefficient r = 0.22. Therefore, the radon rates displayed a seasonal variation, because the local temperature driven by the overground season influences air ventilation in the experimental areas. A cosine fit on the annual residual rates exhibited the maximum amplitude on August 31 \pm 6 d every year.

Read this paper on arXiv…

C. Ha, W. Kang, J. Kim, et. al.
Mon, 5 Sep 22
25/53

Comments: 6 pages, 6 figures

New types of instability and CP violation in electroweak theory [CL]

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http://arxiv.org/abs/2209.00166


It is known that the Schwinger mechanism of vector-like QED theory is afflicted by a logarithmic singularity under background electromagnetic field due to a hypothetical massless charged fermion. We extend singularity analysis to a more realistic case of the chiral electroweak theory, to show that the effective lagrangian under background gauge field at zero temperature exhibits a similar instability proportional to $\ln (1/m_{\nu}^2)$ with $m_{\nu}$ a small neutrino mass. Moreover, the effective lagrangian of chiral fermion loop contains CP violating pieces proportional to background gauge fields in odd powers of $\vec{E}Z\cdot\vec{B}_Z$ or $(\vec{E}{W^+}\cdot\vec{B}{W^-}+ \vec{E}{W^-}\cdot\vec{B}{W^+})/2 $. This brings in a new source of CP violation and time-reversal symmetry violation in the standard particle theory independent of the Kobayashi-Maskawa phase of quark mass mixing matrix. The effective action in thermal equilibrium at finite temperature $T$ is then calculated under background SU(2)$\times $U(1) gauge fields in the spontaneously broken phase. An even more singular power-law behavior $\propto (m{\nu} T)^{-5/2}$ is found and it contains CP violating term as well. The case of Majorana neutrino satisfies almost all necessary conditions to generate a large lepton number asymmetry, though not necessarily convertible to a baryon asymmetry due to lower cosmic temperatures at which this may occur.

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M. Yoshimura
Fri, 2 Sep 22
48/62

Comments: 11 pages, 1 figure

Signatures and Detection Prospects for sub-GeV Dark Matter with Superfluid Helium [CL]

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http://arxiv.org/abs/2208.14474


We explore the possibility of using superfluid helium for direct detection of sub-GeV dark matter (DM). We discuss the relevant phenomenology resulting from the scattering of an incident dark matter particle on a Helium nucleus. Rather than directly exciting quasi-particles, DM in this mass range will interact with a single He atom, triggering an atomic cascade which eventually also includes emission and thermalization of quasi-particles. We present in detail the analytical framework needed for modeling these processes and determining the resulting flux of quasi-particles. We propose a novel method for detecting this flux with modern force-sensitive devices, such as nanoelectro-mechanical system (NEMS) oscillators, and derive the sensitivity projections for a generic sub-GeV DM detection experiment using such sensors.

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Y. You, J. Smolinsky, W. Xue, et. al.
Thu, 1 Sep 22
33/68

Comments: 28 pages, 12 figures

Constraints on dark matter scattering with long lived mediators from observations of the Sun with the Fermi Large Area Telescope [HEAP]

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http://arxiv.org/abs/2208.13157


The Sun represents a promising target for indirect dark matter searches, as dark matter particles from the Galactic halo can be gravitationally trapped in its core or in external orbits, and their annihilations can lead to final states with standard model particles that are able to reach the Earth. In this work we have considered a scenario in which dark matter particles can annihilate into pairs of long-lived mediators, which in turn can escape from the Sun and decay into pairs of gamma rays or into the $b\bar{b}$, $\tau^{+}\tau^{-}$, $\mu^{+}\mu^{-}$ channels, with the production of gamma rays in the final states. All these processes are expected to yield an excess in the energy spectrum of gamma rays towards the Sun. We have therefore analyzed the data collected by the Fermi Large Area Telescope during its first 13.5 years of operation, searching for possible excesses in the solar gamma-ray spectrum. Since no statistically significant excess is found, we have set constraints on the dark matter-nucleon scattering cross sections in both the spin-dependent and spin-independent cases. For all the mediator decay channels explored and for dark matter masses between a few GeV/c${^2}$ and 1 TeV/c${^2}$, we have found that the upper limits on the spin-dependent and spin-independent cross sections are in the ranges from $10^{-45}$ to $10^{-39}$ cm$^{2}$ and from $10^{-47}$ up to $10^{-42}$ cm$^{2}$, respectively.

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D. Serini, F. Loparco, M. Mazziotta, et. al.
Tue, 30 Aug 22
22/76

Comments: 16 pages; 7 figures; corresponding authors: D. Serini, F. Loparco and M. N. Mazziotta

Alouette: Yet another encapsulated TAUOLA, but revertible [CL]

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http://arxiv.org/abs/2208.11914


We present an algorithm for simulating reverse Monte Carlo decays given an existing forward Monte Carlo decay engine. This algorithm is implemented in the Alouette library, a TAUOLA thin wrapper for simulating decays of tau-leptons. We provide a detailed description of Alouette, as well as validation results.

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V. Niess
Fri, 26 Aug 22
15/49

Comments: 30 pages, 4 figures

Current and future $γ$-ray searches for dark-matter annihilation beyond the unitarity limit [HEAP]

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http://arxiv.org/abs/2208.11740


For decades, searches for electroweak-scale dark matter (DM) have been performed without a definitive detection. This lack of success may hint that DM searches have focused on the wrong mass range. A proposed candidate beyond the canonical parameter space is ultra-heavy DM (UHDM). In this work, we consider indirect UHDM annihilation searches for masses between 30 TeV and 30 PeV, extending well beyond the unitarity limit at $\sim$100 TeV, and discuss the basic requirements for DM models in this regime. We explore the feasibility of detecting the annihilation signature, and the expected reach for UHDM with current and future Very-High-Energy (VHE; $>$ 100 GeV) $\gamma$-ray observatories. Specifically, we focus on three reference instruments: two Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov Telescope arrays, modeled on VERITAS and CTA-North, and one Extended Air Shower array, motivated by HAWC. With reasonable assumptions on the instrument response functions and background rate, we find a set of UHDM parameters (mass and cross section) for which a $\gamma$-ray signature can be detected by the aforementioned observatories. We further compute the expected upper limits for each experiment. With realistic exposure times, the three instruments can probe DM across a wide mass range. At the lower end, it can still have a point-like cross section, while at higher masses the DM could have a geometric cross section, indicative of compositeness.

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D. Tak, M. Baumgart, N. Rodd, et. al.
Fri, 26 Aug 22
16/49

Comments: 14 pages, 6 figures

Evaluation of the potential of a gamma-ray observatory to detect astrophysical neutrinos through inclined showers [CL]

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http://arxiv.org/abs/2208.11072


We assess the capabilities of a ground-based gamma-ray observatory to detect astrophysical neutrinos with energies in the $100\,{\rm TeV}$ to $100\,{\rm PeV}$ range. The identification of these events would be done through the measurement of very inclined extensive air showers induced by downward-going and upward-going neutrinos. The discrimination of neutrino-induced showers in the overwhelming cosmic-ray background is achieved by analysing the balance of the total electromagnetic and muonic signals of the shower at the ground. We demonstrate that a ${\rm km^2}$-scale wide field-of-view ground-based gamma-ray observatory could detect a couple of Very-High to Ultra-High energy (VHE-UHE) neutrino events per year with a reasonable pointing accuracy, making it an interesting facility for multi-messenger studies with both photons and neutrinos.

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J. Alvarez-Muñiz, R. Conceição, P. Costa, et. al.
Wed, 24 Aug 22
63/67

Comments: 12 pages, 13 figures

Bridging the gap between Monte Carlo simulations and measurements of the LISA Pathfinder test-mass charging for LISA [HEAP]

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http://arxiv.org/abs/2208.08849


Cubic gold-platinum free-falling test masses (TMs) constitute the mirrors of future LISA and LISA-like interferometers for low-frequency gravitational wave detection in space. High-energy particles of Galactic and solar origin charge the TMs and thus induce spurious electrostatic and magnetic forces that limit the sensitivity of these interferometers. Prelaunch Monte Carlo simulations of the TM charging were carried out for the LISA Pathfinder (LPF) mission, that was planned to test the LISA instrumentation. Measurements and simulations were compared during the mission operations. The measured net TM charging agreed with simulation estimates, while the charging noise was three to four times higher. We aim to bridge the gap between LPF TM charging noise simulations and observations. New Monte Carlo simulations of the LPF TM charging due to both Galactic and solar particles were carried out with the FLUKA/LEI toolkit. This allowed propagating low-energy electrons down to a few electronvolt. These improved FLUKA/LEI simulations agree with observations gathered during the mission operations within statistical and Monte Carlo errors. The charging noise induced by Galactic cosmic rays is about one thousand charges per second. This value increases to tens of thousands charges per second during solar energetic particle events. Similar results are expected for the LISA TM charging.

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C. Grimani, M. Villani, M. Fabi, et. al.
Fri, 19 Aug 22
26/55

Comments: 11 pages, 9 figures

Neutrinos in Stellar Astrophysics [CL]

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http://arxiv.org/abs/2208.08050


The physics of the mysterious and stealthy neutrino is at the heart of many phenomena in the cosmos. These particles interact with matter and with each other through the aptly named weak interaction. At typical astrophysical energies the weak interaction is some twenty orders of magnitude weaker than the electromagnetic interaction. However, in the early universe and in collapsing stars neutrinos can more than make up for their feeble interaction strength with huge numbers. Neutrinos can dominate the dynamics in these sites and set the conditions that govern the synthesis of the elements. Here we journey through the history of the discovery of these particles and describe their role in stellar evolution and collapse, the big bang, and multi-messenger astrophysics. Neutrino physics is at the frontier of elementary particle physics, nuclear physics, astrophysics and cosmology. All of these fields overlap in the neutrino story.

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G. Fuller and W. Haxton
Thu, 18 Aug 22
26/45

Comments: 45 pages, 14 figures; To be published in Neutrino Physics and Astrophysics, edited by F. W. Stecker, in the Encyclopedia of Cosmology II, edited by G. G. Fazio, World Scientific Publishing Company, Singapore, 2022. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1209.3743, arXiv:0808.0735

The KM3NeT infrastructure: status and first results [IMA]

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http://arxiv.org/abs/2208.07370


KM3NeT is a research infrastructure in construction under the Mediterranean Sea. It hosts two large volume neutrino Cherenkov telescopes: ARCA at a depth of 3500 m, located offshore Sicily, and ORCA, 2500 m under the sea level, offshore the southern French coast. The two detectors share the same detection principle and technology and the same data acquisition design, the only difference being the geometrical arrangement of the optical sensors. This allows to span a wide range of neutrino energy and cover a large scientific program: the study of neutrino properties, first of all neutrino mass ordering, the identification and study of high energy neutrino astrophysical sources, indirect dark matter searches and core collapse supernovae detection.

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A. Margiotta
Wed, 17 Aug 22
52/58

Comments: Contribution to the ISVHECRI 2022 – Submission to SciPost Phys. Proc

One-Electron Quantum Cyclotron as a Milli-eV Dark-Photon Detector [CL]

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http://arxiv.org/abs/2208.06519


We propose using trapped electrons as high-$Q$ resonators for detecting meV dark photon dark matter. When the rest energy of the dark photon matches the energy splitting of the two lowest cyclotron levels, the first excited state of the electron cyclotron will be resonantly excited. A proof-of-principle measurement, carried out with one electron, demonstrates that the method is background-free over a 7.4 day search. It sets a limit on dark photon dark matter at 148 GHz (0.6 meV) that is around 75 times better than previous constraints. Dark photon dark matter in the 0.1-1 meV mass range (20-200 GHz) could likely be detected at a similar sensitivity in an apparatus designed for dark photon detection.

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X. Fan, G. Gabrielse, P. Graham, et. al.
Tue, 16 Aug 22
29/74

Comments: 6 pages, 5 figures

Dark Matter Direct Detection with Quantum Dots [CL]

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http://arxiv.org/abs/2208.05967


We propose using Quantum Dots as novel targets to probe sub-GeV dark matter-electron interactions. Quantum dots are nanocrystals of semiconducting material, which are commercially available, with gram-scale quantities suspended in liter-scale volumes of solvent. Quantum dots can be efficient scintillators, with near unity single-photon quantum yields, and their band-edge electronic properties are determined by their characteristic size, which can be precisely tuned. Examples include lead sulfide (PbS) and lead selenide (PbSe) quantum dots, which can be tuned to have sub-eV optical gaps. A dark-matter interaction can generate one or more electron-hole pairs (excitons), with the multi-exciton state decaying via the emission of two photons with an efficiency of about 10% of the single-photon quantum yield. An experimental setup using commercially available quantum dots and two photo-multiplier-tubes (PMTs) for detecting the coincident two-photon signal can already improve on existing dark-matter bounds, while using photodetectors with lower dark-count rates can improve on current constraints by orders of magnitude.

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C. Blanco, R. Essig, M. Fernandez-Serra, et. al.
Mon, 15 Aug 22
34/54

Comments: 12 pages, 7 figures ; Appendix 4 pages, 1 figure

Calorimetric Detection of Dark Matter [CL]

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http://arxiv.org/abs/2208.05485


Dark matter direct detection experiments are designed to look for the scattering of dark matter particles that are assumed to move with virial velocities $\sim 10^{-3}$. At these velocities, the energy deposition in the detector is large enough to cause ionization/scintillation, forming the primary class of signatures looked for in such experiments. These experiments are blind to a large class of dark matter models where the dark matter has relatively large scattering cross-sections with the standard model, resulting in the dark matter undergoing multiple scattering with the atmosphere and the rock overburden, and thus slowing down considerably before arriving at underground detectors. We propose to search for these kinds of dark matter by looking for the anomalous heating of a well shielded and sensitive calorimeter. In this detector concept, the dark matter is thermalized with the rock overburden but is able to pierce through the thermal shields of the detector causing anomalous heating. Using the technologies under development for EDELWEISS and SuperCDMS, we estimate the sensitivity of such a calorimetric detector. In addition to models with large dark matter – standard model interactions, these detectors also have the ability to probe dark photon dark matter.

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J. Billard, M. Pyle, S. Rajendran, et. al.
Fri, 12 Aug 22
19/48

Comments: 21 pages, 8 figures, 3 tables

Light lepton portal dark matter meets the LHC [CL]

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http://arxiv.org/abs/2208.05487


We examine the sensitivity of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) to light lepton portal dark matter with its mass below 10 GeV. The model features an extra doublet scalar field and singlet Dirac dark matter, which have Yukawa interactions with left-handed leptons. To correctly produce the dark matter abundance via the thermal freeze-out, a large mass splitting among the extra scalars is required, thus providing a light neutral scalar below ${\cal O}(10)$GeV and heavy neutral and charged scalars at the electroweak scale. In this paper, we focus on the electroweak pair-production of the extra scalars with subsequent model-specific scalar decays and evaluate the current constraints with the LHC Run 2 data and the discovery potential at the High Luminosity LHC (HL-LHC). It turns out that a large part of the theoretically allowed parameter space can be tested at the HL-LHC by taking into account complementarity between slepton searches and mono-$Z$ plus missing transverse energy search. We also discuss same-sign charged scalar production as a unique prediction of the model, and the implication of the collider searches in the thermal dark matter scenario.

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S. Iguro, S. Okawa and Y. Omura
Fri, 12 Aug 22
27/48

Comments: 29 pages, 6 figures

A Possibility of Determining the WIMP Mass by Using the Angular Recoil-Energy Spectra from Directional Direct Dark Matter Detection Experiments [CL]

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http://arxiv.org/abs/2208.05193


In this article, as an extension of our study on the angular distribution of the recoil flux of WIMP-scattered target nuclei, we demonstrate a possibility of determining the mass of incident halo WIMPs by using or combining “ridge-crater” structures of the angular recoil-energy spectra with different target nuclei observed in directional direct Dark Matter detection experiments. Our simulation results show that, for a WIMP mass of only a few tens GeV, the stereoscopic angular recoil-flux distributions of both of light and heavy target nuclei would have a (longitudinally) “ridge-like” structure. However, once the WIMP mass is as heavy as a few hundreds GeV, the angular recoil-flux distributions of heavy target nuclei would in contrast show a (latitudinally) “crater-like” structure.

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C. Shan
Thu, 11 Aug 22
32/68

Comments: 6 pages, 2 figures; for readers’ reference, simulation results for several frequently used target nuclei are demonstrated in animation on and downloadable from our online (interactive) webpage (this http URL). arXiv admin note: substantial text overlap with arXiv:2203.05805

An induced annual modulation signature in COSINE-100 data by DAMA/LIBRA's analysis method [CL]

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http://arxiv.org/abs/2208.05158


The DAMA/LIBRA collaboration has reported the observation of an annual modulation in the event rate that has been attributed to dark matter interactions over the last two decades. However, even though tremendous efforts to detect similar dark matter interactions were pursued, no definitive evidence has been observed to corroborate the DAMA/LIBRA signal. Many studies assuming various dark matter models have attempted to reconcile DAMA/LIBRA’s modulation signals and null results from other experiments, however no clear conclusion can be drawn. Apart from the dark matter hypothesis, several studies have examined the possibility that the modulation is induced by variations in their detector’s environment or their specific analysis methods. In particular, a recent study presents a possible cause of the annual modulation from an analysis method adopted by the DAMA/LIBRA experiment in which the observed annual modulation could be reproduced by a slowly varying time-dependent background. Here, we study the COSINE-100 data using an analysis method similar to the one adopted by the DAMA/LIBRA experiment and observe a significant annual modulation, although the modulation phase is almost opposite to that of the DAMA/LIBRA data. Assuming the same background composition for COSINE-100 and DAMA/LIBRA, simulated experiments for the DAMA/LIBRA without dark matter signals also provide significant annual modulation with an amplitude similar to DAMA/LIBRA with opposite phase. Even though this observation does not explain the DAMA/LIBRA’s results directly, this interesting phenomenon motivates deeper studies of the time-dependent DAMA/LIBRA background data.

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G. Adhikari, N. Carlin, J. Choi, et. al.
Thu, 11 Aug 22
47/68

Comments: N/A

A Search for Light Fermionic Dark Matter Absorption on Electrons in PandaX-4T [CL]

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http://arxiv.org/abs/2206.02339


We report a search on a sub-MeV fermionic dark matter absorbed by electrons with an outgoing active neutrino using the 0.63 tonne-year exposure collected by PandaX-4T liquid xenon experiment. No significant signals are observed over the expected background. The data are interpreted into limits to the effective couplings between such dark matter and electrons. For axial-vector or vector interactions, our sensitivity is competitive in comparison to existing astrophysical bounds on the decay of such dark matter into photon final states. In particular, we present the first direct detection limits for an axial-vector (vector) interaction which are the strongest in the mass range from 25 to 45 (35 to 50) keV/c$^2$.

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D. Zhang, A. Abdukerim, Z. Bo, et. al.
Tue, 7 Jun 22
8/70

Comments: N/A

Measurement of the Proton Maximum Acceleration Energy in Galactic Cosmic Rays [HEAP]

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http://arxiv.org/abs/2206.02649


Cosmic rays represent one of the most important energy transformation processes of the universe. They bring information about the surrounding universe, our galaxy, and very probably also the extragalactic space, at least at the highest observed energies. More than one century after their discovery, we have no definitive models yet about the origin, acceleration and propagation processes of the radiation. The main reason is that there are still significant discrepancies among the results obtained by different experiments, probably due to some still unknown systematic uncertainties affecting the measurements. In this paper, we will focus on the detection of galactic cosmic rays in the 10$^{15}$ eV energy range, where the so-called \emph{`knee’} in the all-particle energy spectrum is observed. The measurement of the (p+He) energy spectrum is presented and discussed.

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G. Sciascio and I. Vergata
Tue, 7 Jun 22
16/70

Comments: Invited Talk, Moriond conference on Very High Energy Phenomena in the Universe (March 19-26, 2022 La Thuile, Italy). arXiv admin note: substantial text overlap with arXiv:2202.11618

The PUMAS library [CL]

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http://arxiv.org/abs/2206.01457


The PUMAS library is a transport engine for muon and tau leptons in matter. It can operate with a configurable level of details, from a fast deterministic CSDA mode to a detailed Monte~Carlo simulation. A peculiarity of PUMAS is that it is revertible, i.e. it can run in forward or in backward mode. Thus, the PUMAS library is particularly well suited for muography applications. In the present document, we provide a detailed description of PUMAS, of its physics and of its implementation.

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V. Niess
Mon, 6 Jun 22
8/41

Comments: 72 pages, 13 figures

Search for supernova bursts in Super-Kamiokande IV [HEAP]

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http://arxiv.org/abs/2206.01380


Super-Kamiokande has been searching for neutrino bursts characteristic of core-collapse supernovae continuously, in real time, since the start of operations in 1996. The present work focuses on detecting more distant supernovae whose event rate may be too small to trigger in real time, but may be identified using an offline approach. The analysis of data collected from 2008 to 2018 found no evidence of distant supernovae bursts. This establishes an upper limit of 0.29 year$^{-1}$ on the rate of core-collapse supernovae out to 100 kpc at 90% C.L.. For supernovae that fail to explode and collapse directly to black holes the limit reaches to 300 kpc.

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S. collaboration, M. Mori, K. Abe, et. al.
Mon, 6 Jun 22
19/41

Comments: N/A

Design of a Space-based Near-Solar Neutrino Detector for the $ν$SOL Experiment [CL]

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http://arxiv.org/abs/2206.00703


The concept of putting a neutrino detector in close orbit of the sun has been unexplored until very recently. The primary scientific return is to vastly enhance our understanding of the solar interior, which is a major NASA goal. Preliminary calculations show that such a spacecraft, if properly shielded, can operate in space environments while taking data from neutrino interactions. These interactions can be distinguished from random background rates of solar electromagnetic emissions, galactic charged cosmic-rays, and gamma-rays by using a double pulsed signature. Early simulations of this project have shown this veto schema to be successful in eliminating background and identifying the neutrino interaction signal in upwards of 75% of gamma ray interactions and nearly 100% of other interactions. Hence, we propose a new instrument to explore and study our sun. Due to inverse square scaling, this instrument has the potential to outperform earth-based experiments in several domains such as making measurements not accessible from the earth’s orbit.

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N. Solomey, J. Folkerts, H. Meyer, et. al.
Fri, 3 Jun 22
5/57

Comments: N/A

Prospects for extending the core-collapse supernova detection horizon using high-energy neutrinos [HEAP]

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http://arxiv.org/abs/2206.00450


Large neutrino detectors like IceCube monitor for core-collapse supernovae using low energy (MeV) neutrinos, with a reach to a supernova neutrino burst to the Magellanic Cloud. However, some models predict the emission of high energy neutrinos (GeV-TeV) from core-collapse supernovae through the interaction of ejecta with circumstellar material and (TeV-PeV) through choked jets. In this paper, we explore the detection horizon of IceCube for core-collapse supernovae using high-energy neutrinos from these models. We examine the potential of two high-energy neutrino data samples from IceCube, one that performs best in the northern sky and one that has better sensitivity in the southern sky. We demonstrate that by using high-energy neutrinos from core-collapse supernovae, the detection reach can be extended to the Mpc range, far beyond what is accessible through low-energy neutrinos. Looking ahead to IceCube-Gen2, this reach will be extended considerably.

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N. Valtonen-Mattila and E. O’Sullivan
Thu, 2 Jun 22
3/57

Comments: 8 pages, 2 figures. Submitted to ApJ

Puzzling time properties of proportional electroluminescence in two-phase argon detectors for dark matter searches [CL]

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http://arxiv.org/abs/2206.00296


Proportional electroluminescence (EL) in noble gases is the physical effect routinely used in two-phase (liquid-gas) detectors for dark matter searches to record the primary ionization signal in the gas phase induced by particle scattering in the liquid phase. In this work, the time properties of visible-light EL in two-phase argon detectors have for the first time been systematically studied. In particular, two unusual slow components in the EL signal, with time constants of about 4-5 $\mu$s and 50 $\mu$s, were observed. Their puzzling property is that their contributions and time constants increase with electric field, which is not expected in any of the known mechanisms of photon and electron emission in two-phase media. In addition, a specific threshold behavior of the slow components was revealed: they emerged at a threshold in reduced electric field of about 5 Td regardless of the gas phase density, which is 1 Td above the onset of standard (excimer) EL. It is shown that this threshold is related to higher atomic excited states Ar$^{*}(3p^{5}4p)$. An unexpected temperature dependence of slow components was also observed: their contribution decreased with temperature, practically disappearing at room temperature. We show that the puzzling properties of slow components can be explained in the framework of hypothesis that these are produced in the charge signal itself due to trapping of drifting electrons on metastable negative argon ions.

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A. Buzulutskov, E. Frolov, E. Borisova, et. al.
Thu, 2 Jun 22
30/57

Comments: 12 pages, 17 figures

Improved measurement of solar neutrinos from the Carbon-Nitrogen-Oxygen cycle by Borexino and its implications for the Standard Solar Model [CL]

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http://arxiv.org/abs/2205.15975


We present an improved measurement of the CNO solar neutrino interaction rate at Earth obtained with the complete Borexino Phase-III dataset. The measured rate R${\rm CNO}$ = $6.7^{+2.0}{-0.8}$ counts/(day$ \cdot$ 100 tonnes), allows us to exclude the absence of the CNO signal with about 7$\sigma$ C.L. The correspondent CNO neutrino flux is $6.6^{+2.0}{-0.9} \times 10^8$ cm$^{-2}$ s$^{-1}$, taking into account the neutrino flavor conversion. We use the new CNO measurement to evaluate the C and N abundances in the Sun with respect to the H abundance for the first time with solar neutrinos. Our result of $N{\rm CN}$ = $(5.78^{+1.86}_{-1.00})\times10^{-4}$ displays a $\sim$2$\sigma$ tension with the “low metallicity” spectroscopic photospheric measurements. On the other hand, our result used together with the $^7$Be and $^8$B solar neutrino fluxes, also measured by Borexino, permits to disfavour at 3.1$\sigma$ C.L. the “low metallicity” SSM B16-AGSS09met as an alternative to the “high metallicity” SSM B16-GS98.

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S. Appel, Z. Bagdasarian, D. Basilico, et. al.
Wed, 1 Jun 22
49/65

Comments: 8 pages, 6 figures

Near-future discovery of point sources of ultra-high-energy neutrinos [HEAP]

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http://arxiv.org/abs/2205.15985


Upcoming neutrino telescopes may discover ultra-high-energy (UHE) cosmic neutrinos, with energies beyond 100~PeV, in the next 10–20 years. Finding their sources would expose the long-sought origin of UHE cosmic rays. We search for sources by looking for multiplets of UHE neutrinos arriving from similar directions. Our forecasts are state-of-the-art, geared at neutrino radio-detection in IceCube-Gen2. They account for detector energy and angular response, and for critical, but uncertain backgrounds. We report powerful insight. Sources at declination of $-45^\circ$ to $0^\circ$ will be easiest to discover. Discovering even one steady-state source in 10~years would disfavor most known steady-state source classes as dominant. Discovering no transient source would disfavor most known transient source classes as dominant. Our results aim to inform the design of upcoming detectors.

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D. Fiorillo, M. Bustamante and V. Valera
Wed, 1 Jun 22
63/65

Comments: 5 pages, 3 figures, plus references and technical appendices

Data-driven hadronic interaction model for atmospheric lepton flux calculations [HEAP]

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http://arxiv.org/abs/2205.14766


The leading contribution to the uncertainties of atmospheric neutrino flux calculations arise from the cosmic ray nucleon flux and the production cross sections of secondary particles in hadron-air interactions. The data-driven model (DDM) developed in this work parametrizes particle yields from fixed-target accelerator data. The propagation of errors from the accelerator data to the inclusive muon and neutrino flux predictions results in smaller uncertainties than in previous estimates, and the description of atmospheric flux data is good. The model is implemented as part of the MCEq package, and hence can be flexibly employed for theoretical flux error estimation at neutrino telescopes.

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A. Fedynitch and M. Huber
Tue, 31 May 22
24/89

Comments: 22 pages, 17 figures

Dark Matter Pollution in the Diffuse Supernova Neutrino Background [CL]

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http://arxiv.org/abs/2205.14123


The Hyper-Kamiokande (HyperK) experiment is expected to measure precisely the Diffuse Supernova Neutrino Background (DSNB). This requires that the backgrounds in the relevant energy range are well understood. One possible background that has not been considered thus far is the annihilation of low-mass dark matter (DM) to neutrinos. We conduct simulations of the DSNB signal and backgrounds in HyperK, and quantify the extent to which DM annihilation products can pollute the DSNB signal. We find that the presence of DM could affect the determination of the correct values of parameters of interest for DSNB physics, such as effective neutrino temperatures and star formation rates. Since the DSNB is isotropic, and the DM annihilation flux would originate predominantly from the Galactic centre, we show how this effect can be mitigated with the use of angular information. This opens up the possibility of simultaneously characterising the DNSB and discovering dark matter via indirect detection.

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N. Bell, M. Dolan and S. Robles
Mon, 30 May 22
31/47

Comments: 19 pages, 6 figures, 2 tables

Searches for Connections between Dark Matter and High-Energy Neutrinos with IceCube [CL]

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http://arxiv.org/abs/2205.12950


In this work, we present the results of searches for signatures of dark matter decay or annihilation into Standard Model particles, and secret neutrino interactions with dark matter. Neutrinos could be produced in the decay or annihilation of galactic or extragalactic dark matter. Additionally, if an interaction between dark matter and neutrinos exists then dark matter will interact with extragalactic neutrinos. In particular galactic dark matter will induce an anisotropy in the neutrino sky if this interaction is present. We use seven and a half years of the High-Energy Starting Event (HESE) sample data, which measures neutrinos in the energy range of approximately 60 TeV to 10 PeV, to study these phenomena. This all-sky event selection is dominated by extragalactic neutrinos. For dark matter of $\sim$ 1 PeV in mass, we constrain the velocity-averaged annihilation cross section to be smaller than $10^{-23}$cm$^3$/s for the exclusive $\mu^+\mu^-$ channel and $10^{-22}$ cm$^3$/s for the $b\bar b$ channel. For the same mass, we constrain the lifetime of dark matter to be larger than $10^{28}$ s for all channels studied, except for decaying exclusively to $b\bar b$ where it is bounded to be larger than $10^{27}$ s. Finally, we also search for evidence of astrophysical neutrinos scattering on galactic dark matter in two scenarios. For fermionic dark matter with a vector mediator, we constrain the dimensionless coupling associated with this interaction to be less than 0.1 for dark matter mass of 0.1 GeV and a mediator mass of $10^{-4}~$ GeV. In the case of scalar dark matter with a fermionic mediator, we constrain the coupling to be less than 0.1 for dark matter and mediator masses below 1 MeV.

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R. Abbasi, M. Ackermann, J. Adams, et. al.
Thu, 26 May 22
27/56

Comments: 23 pages, 8 figures

Pre-Supernova Alert System for Super-Kamiokande [CL]

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http://arxiv.org/abs/2205.09881


In 2020, the Super-Kamiokande (SK) experiment moved to a new stage (SK-Gd) in which gadolinium (Gd) sulfate octahydrate was added to the water in the detector, enhancing the efficiency to detect thermal neutrons and consequently improving the sensitivity to low energy electron anti-neutrinos from inverse beta decay (IBD) interactions. SK-Gd has the potential to provide early alerts of incipient core-collapse supernovae through detection of electron anti-neutrinos from thermal and nuclear processes responsible for the cooling of massive stars before the gravitational collapse of their cores. These pre-supernova neutrinos emitted during the silicon burning phase can exceed the energy threshold for IBD reactions. We present the sensitivity of SK-Gd to pre-supernova stars and the techniques used for the development of a pre-supernova alarm based on the detection of these neutrinos in SK, as well as prospects for future SK-Gd phases with higher concentrations of Gd. For the current SK-Gd phase, high-confidence alerts for Betelgeuse could be issued up to nine hours in advance of the core-collapse itself.

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S. Collaboration, L. Machado, K. Abe, et. al.
Wed, 25 May 22
6/56

Comments: 20 pages

Dark Solar Wind [CL]

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http://arxiv.org/abs/2205.11527


We study the solar emission of light dark sector particles that self-interact strongly enough to self-thermalize. The resulting outflow behaves like a fluid which accelerates under its own thermal pressure to highly relativistic bulk velocities in the solar system. Compared to the ordinary non-interacting scenario, the local outflow has at least $\sim 10^3$ higher number density and correspondingly at least $\sim 10^3$ lower average energy per particle. We show how this generic phenomenon arises in a dark sector comprised of millicharged particles strongly self-interacting via a dark photon. The millicharged plasma wind emerging in this model has novel yet predictive signatures that encourages new experimental directions. This phenomenon demonstrates how a small step away from the simplest models can lead to radically different outcomes and thus motivates a broader search for dark sector particles.

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J. Chang, D. Kaplan, S. Rajendran, et. al.
Wed, 25 May 22
11/56

Comments: N/A

Effective Field Theory Analysis of CDMSlite Run 2 Data [CEA]

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http://arxiv.org/abs/2205.11683


CDMSlite Run 2 was a search for weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs) with a cryogenic 600 g Ge detector operated in a high-voltage mode to optimize sensitivity to WIMPs of relatively low mass from 2 – 20 GeV/$c^2$. In this article, we present an effective field theory (EFT) analysis of the CDMSlite Run 2 data using an extended energy range and a comprehensive treatment of the expected background. A binned likelihood Bayesian analysis was performed on the recoil energy data, taking into account the parameters of the EFT interactions and optimizing the data selection with respect to the dominant background components. Energy regions within 5$\sigma$ of known activation peaks were removed from the analysis. The Bayesian evidences resulting from the different operator hypotheses show that the CDMSlite Run 2 data are consistent with the background-only models and do not allow for a signal interpretation assuming any additional EFT interaction. Consequently, upper limits on the WIMP mass and coupling-coefficient amplitudes and phases are presented for each EFT operator. These limits improve previous CDMSlite Run 2 bounds for WIMP masses above 5 GeV/$c^2$.

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S. Collaboration, M. Albakry, I. Alkhatib, et. al.
Wed, 25 May 22
25/56

Comments: 16 pages, 8 figures

Gamma/Hadron Separation with the HAWC Observatory [HEAP]

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http://arxiv.org/abs/2205.12188


The High Altitude Water Cherenkov (HAWC) gamma-ray observatory observes atmospheric showers produced by incident gamma rays and cosmic rays with energy from 300 GeV to more than 100 TeV. A crucial phase in analyzing gamma-ray sources using ground-based gamma-ray detectors like HAWC is to identify the showers produced by gamma rays or hadrons. The HAWC observatory records roughly 25,000 events per second, with hadrons representing the vast majority ($>99.9\%$) of these events. The standard gamma/hadron separation technique in HAWC uses a simple rectangular cut involving only two parameters. This work describes the implementation of more sophisticated gamma/hadron separation techniques, via machine learning methods (boosted decision trees and neural networks), and summarizes the resulting improvements in gamma/hadron separation obtained in HAWC.

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R. Alfaro, C. Alvarez, J. Álvarez, et. al.
Wed, 25 May 22
36/56

Comments: 35 pages, 9 figures, published in Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A

Detector Requirements for Model-Independent Measurements of Ultrahigh Energy Neutrino Cross Sections [CL]

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http://arxiv.org/abs/2205.09763


The ultrahigh energy range of neutrino physics (above $\sim 10^{7} \, \mathrm{GeV}$), as yet devoid of detections, is an open landscape with challenges to be met and discoveries to be made. Neutrino-nucleon cross sections in that range – with center-of-momentum energies $\sqrt{s} \gtrsim 4 \, \mathrm{TeV}$ – are powerful probes of unexplored phenomena. We present a simple and accurate model-independent framework to evaluate how well these cross sections can be measured for an unknown flux and generic detectors. We also demonstrate how to characterize and compare detector sensitivity. We show that cross sections can be measured to $\simeq ^{+65}{-30}$% precision over $\sqrt{s} \simeq$ 4-140 TeV ($E\nu = 10^7$-$10^{10}$ GeV) with modest energy and angular resolution and $\simeq 10$ events per energy decade. Many allowed novel-physics models (extra dimensions, leptoquarks, etc.) produce much larger effects. In the distant future, with $\simeq 100$ events at the highest energies, the precision would be $\simeq 15\%$, probing even QCD saturation effects.

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I. Esteban, S. Prohira and J. Beacom
Tue, 24 May 22
33/92

Comments: 8 pages + Appendices. Comments are welcome!

A Method for Quantifying Position Reconstruction Uncertainty in Astroparticle Physics using Bayesian Networks [IMA]

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http://arxiv.org/abs/2205.10305


Robust position reconstruction is paramount for enabling discoveries in astroparticle physics as backgrounds are significantly reduced by only considering interactions within the fiducial volume. In this work, we present for the first time a method for position reconstruction using a Bayesian network which provides per interaction uncertainties. We demonstrate the utility of this method with simulated data based on the XENONnT detector design, a dual-phase xenon time-projection chamber, as a proof-of-concept. The network structure includes variables representing the 2D position of the interaction within the detector, the number of electrons entering the gaseous phase, and the hits measured by each sensor in the top array of the detector. The precision of the position reconstruction (difference between the true and expectation value of position) is comparable to the state-of-the-art methods — an RMS of 0.69 cm, ~0.09 of the sensor spacing, for the inner part of the detector (<60 cm) and 0.98 cm, ~0.12 of the sensor spacing, near the wall of the detector (>60 cm). More importantly, the uncertainty of each interaction position was directly computed, which is not possible with other reconstruction methods. The method found a median 3-$\sigma$ confidence region of 11 cm$^2$ for the inner part of the detector and 21 cm$^2$ near the wall of the detector. We found the Bayesian network framework to be well suited to the problem of position reconstruction. The performance of this proof-of-concept, even with several simplifying assumptions, shows that this is a promising method for providing per interaction uncertainty, which can be extended to energy reconstruction and signal classification.

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C. Peters, A. Higuera, S. Liang, et. al.
Mon, 23 May 22
30/50

Comments: 16 pages, 22 figures

FLArE up dark sectors with EM form factors at the LHC Forward Physics Facility [CL]

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http://arxiv.org/abs/2205.09137


Despite being mostly secluded, dark sector particles may feebly interact with photons via a small mass-dimension 4 millicharge, a mass-dimension 5 magnetic and electric dipole moment, or a mass-dimension 6 anapole moment and charge radius. If sufficiently light, the LHC may produce an intense and collimated beam of these particles in the far forward direction. We study the prospects of searching for such dark sector particles with electromagnetic form factors via their electron scattering signature in the Forward Liquid Argon Experiment (FLArE) detector at the Forward Physics Facility (FPF). We find that FLArE can provide new probes of sub-GeV dark particles with dipole moments and strong sensitivities for millicharged particles in the 100 MeV to 100 GeV region. This complements other search strategies using scintillation signatures or dark matter direct detection and allows for probing strongly interacting dark matter motivated by the EDGES anomaly. Along with the FORMOSA detector, this leads to a very diverse and leading experimental program in the search for millicharged particles in the FPF.

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F. Kling, J. Kuo, S. Trojanowski, et. al.
Fri, 20 May 22
2/65

Comments: 11 pages, 3 figures