Limits on momentum-dependent asymmetric dark matter with CRESST-II.

Journal article

The usual assumption in direct dark matter searches is to only consider the spin-dependent or spin-independent scattering of dark matter particles. However, especially in models with light dark matter particles O(GeV=c^2), operators which carry additional powers of the momentum transfer q^2 can become dominant. One such model based on asymmetric dark matter has been invoked to overcome discrepancies in helioseismology and an indication was found for a particle with preferred mass of 3 GeV=c^2 and cross section of 10^-37cm2 . Recent data from the CRESST-II experiment, which uses cryogenic detectors based on CaWO4 to search for nuclear recoils induced by dark matter particles, are used to constrain these momentum-dependent models. The low energy threshold of 307 eV for nuclear recoils of the detector used, allows us to rule out the proposed best fit value above.

Authors: Angloher, G; Bento, A; Bucci, C; Canonica, L; Defay, X

• Publication status: Published
• Peer review status: Peer reviewed
• Publisher: American Physical Society
• Journal: Physical Review Letters
• Volume: 117
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 021303
• Publication date: 2016-07-01
• Acceptance date: 2016-06-03
• DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.117.021303
• ISSN: 1079-7114 and 0031-9007
• Pmid: 27447498
• Language: English
• Keywords: Journal Article