First Direct-Detection Constraints on eV-Scale Hidden-Photon Dark Matter with DAMIC at SNOLAB

AGUILAR-AREVALO, A.; AMIDEI, D.; BERTOU, X.; BUTNER, M.; CANCELO, G.; CASTAÑEDA VÁZQUEZ, A.; CERVANTES VERGARA, B.A.; CHAVARRIA, A.E.; CHAVEZ, C.R.; DE MELLO NETO, J.R.T.; D'OLIVO, J.C.; ESTRADA, J.; FERNANDEZ MORONI, G.; GAÏOR, R.; GUARDINCERRI, Y.; HERNÁNDEZ TORRES, K.P.; IZRAELEVITCH, F.; KAVNER, A.; KILMINSTER, B.; LAWSON, I.; LETESSIER-SELVON, A.; LIAO, J.; MATALON, A.; MELLO, V.B.B.; MOLINA, J.; PRIVITERA, P.; RAMANATHAN, K.; SARKIS, Y.; SCHWARZ, T.; SETTIMO, M.; SOFO HARO, M.; THOMAS, R.; TIFFENBERG, J.; TIOUCHICHINE, E.; TORRES MACHADO, D.; TRILLAUD, F.; YOU, X.; ZHOU, J.

PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS

AMER PHYSICAL SOC

Año: 2017 vol. 118

0031-9007

We present direct detection constraints on the absorption of hidden-photon dark matter with particle masses in the range 1.2-30 eV c-2 with the DAMIC experiment at SNOLAB. Under the assumption that the local dark matter is entirely constituted of hidden photons, the sensitivity to the kinetic mixing parameter κ is competitive with constraints from solar emission, reaching a minimum value of 2.2×10-14 at 17 eV c-2. These results are the most stringent direct detection constraints on hidden-photon dark matter in the galactic halo with masses 3-12 eV c-2 and the first demonstration of direct experimental sensitivity to ionization signals