English

Using the Energy Spectrum at DAMA/LIBRA to Probe Light Dark Matter

High Energy Physics - Phenomenology 2009-06-30 v1 Astrophysics High Energy Physics - Experiment

Abstract

A weakly interacting massive particle (WIMP) weighing only a few GeV has been invoked as an explanation for the signal from the DAMA/LIBRA experiment. We show that the data from DAMA/LIBRA are now powerful enough to strongly constrain the properties of any putative WIMP. Accounting for the detailed recoil spectrum, a light WIMP with a Maxwellian velocity distribution and a spin-independent (SI) interaction cannot account for the data. Even neglecting the spectrum, much of the parameter space is excluded by limits from the DAMA unmodulated signal at low energies. Significant modifications to the astrophysics or particle physics can open light mass windows.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.0808.0196,
  title  = {Using the Energy Spectrum at DAMA/LIBRA to Probe Light Dark Matter},
  author = {Spencer Chang and Aaron Pierce and Neal Weiner},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:0808.0196},
  year   = {2009}
}

Comments

5 pages, 5 figures

R2 v1 2026-06-21T11:06:53.734Z