First search for light dark matter in the neutrino fog with XENONnT

Abstract

We search for dark matter (DM) with a mass [3,12] GeV/c2 using an exposure of 3.51 tonne year with the XENONnT experiment. We consider spin-independent DM-nucleon interactions mediated by a heavy or light mediator, spin-dependent DM-neutron interactions, momentum-dependent DM scattering, and mirror DM. Using a lowered energy threshold compared to the previous weakly interacting massive particle search, a blind analysis of [0.5, 5.0] keV nuclear recoil events reveals no significant signal excess over the background. XENONnT excludes spin-independent DM-nucleon cross sections >2.5×10−45 cm2 at 90% confidence level for 6 GeV/c2 DM. In the considered mass range, the DM sensitivity approaches the “neutrino fog,” the limitation where neutrinos produce a signal that is indistinguishable from that of light DM-xenon nucleus scattering.

Metadata

Item Type:	Article
Authors/Creators:	Aprile, E. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6595-7098 Aalbers, J. https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0030-0030 Abe, K. https://orcid.org/0009-0000-9620-788X Ahmed Maouloud, S. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0844-4576 Althueser, L. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5468-4298 Andrieu, B. https://orcid.org/0009-0002-6485-4163 Angelino, E. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6695-4355 Antón Martin, D. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7725-5552 Arneodo, F. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1061-0510 Baudis, L. https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4710-1768 Bazyk, M. https://orcid.org/0009-0000-7986-153X Bellagamba, L. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7098-9393 Biondi, R. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6622-8740 Bismark, A. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0574-4303 Boese, K. https://orcid.org/0009-0007-0662-0920 Brown, A. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1623-8086 Bruno, G. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9005-2821 Budnik, R. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1963-9408 Cai, C. Capelli, C. https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3330-621X Cardoso, J.M.R. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8832-8208 Cimental Chávez, A.P. https://orcid.org/0009-0004-9605-5985 Colijn, A.P. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3118-5197 Conrad, J. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9984-4411 Cuenca-García, J.J. D’Andrea, V. https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2037-4133 Daniel Garcia, L.C. https://orcid.org/0009-0000-5813-9118 Decowski, M.P. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1577-6229 Deisting, A. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5372-9944 Di Donato, C. https://orcid.org/0009-0005-9268-6402 Di Gangi, P. https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4982-3748 Diglio, S. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9340-0534 Eitel, K. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5900-0599 el Morabit, S. https://orcid.org/0009-0000-0193-8891 Elykov, A. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2693-232X Ferella, A.D. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6006-9160 Ferrari, C. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0838-2328 Fischer, H. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9342-7665 Flehmke, T. https://orcid.org/0009-0002-7944-2671 Flierman, M. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3785-7871 Fulgione, W. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2388-3809 Fuselli, C. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7517-8618 Gaemers, P. https://orcid.org/0009-0003-1108-1619 Gaior, R. https://orcid.org/0009-0005-2488-5856 Galloway, M. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8323-9564 Gao, F. https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1376-677X Ghosh, S. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7785-9102 Giacomobono, R. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6162-1319 Glade-Beucke, R. https://orcid.org/0009-0006-5455-2232 Grandi, L. https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0771-7568 Grigat, J. https://orcid.org/0009-0005-4775-0196 Guan, H. https://orcid.org/0009-0006-5049-0812 Guida, M. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5126-0337 Gyorgy, P. https://orcid.org/0009-0005-7616-5762 Hammann, R. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6149-9413 Higuera, A. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9310-2994 Hils, C. https://orcid.org/0009-0002-9309-8184 Hoetzsch, L. https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2572-477X Hood, N.F. https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2507-7656 Iacovacci, M. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3102-4721 Itow, Y. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8198-1968 Jakob, J. https://orcid.org/0009-0000-2220-1418 Joerg, F. https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1719-3294 Kaminaga, Y. https://orcid.org/0009-0006-5424-2867 Kara, M. https://orcid.org/0009-0004-5080-9446 Kavrigin, P. https://orcid.org/0009-0000-1339-2419 Kazama, S. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6976-3693 Kobayashi, M. https://orcid.org/0009-0006-7861-1284 Koke, D. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8887-5527 Kopec, A. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6548-0963 Landsman, H. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7570-5238 Lang, R.F. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7594-2746 Levinson, L. https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4679-0485 Li, I. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6655-3685 Li, S. https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0379-1111 Liang, S. https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0116-654X Lin, Y.-T. https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3631-1655 Lindemann, S. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4501-7231 Lindner, M. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3704-6016 Liu, K. https://orcid.org/0009-0004-1437-5716 Liu, M. Loizeau, J. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6375-9768 Lombardi, F. https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0229-4391 Long, J. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5617-7337 Lopes, J.A.M. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6366-2963 Luce, T. https://orcid.org/0009-0000-0423-1525 Ma, Y. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5227-675X Macolino, C. https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2517-6574 Mahlstedt, J. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8514-2037 Mancuso, A. https://orcid.org/0009-0002-2018-6095 Manenti, L. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7590-0175 Marignetti, F. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8776-4561 Marrodán Undagoitia, T. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9332-6074 Martens, K. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5049-3339 Masbou, J. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8089-8639 Masson, E. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5628-8926 Mastroianni, S. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9467-0851 Melchiorre, A. https://orcid.org/0009-0006-0615-0204 Merz, J. Messina, M. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6475-7649 Michael, A. Miuchi, K. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1546-7370 Molinario, A. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5379-7290 Moriyama, S. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7630-2839 Morå, K. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2011-1889 Mosbacher, Y. Murra, M. https://orcid.org/0009-0008-2608-4472 Müller, J. https://orcid.org/0009-0007-4572-6146 Ni, K. https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2566-0091 Oberlack, U. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8160-5498 Paetsch, B. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5025-3976 Pan, Y. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0812-9007 Pellegrini, Q. https://orcid.org/0009-0002-8692-6367 Peres, R. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5243-2268 Peters, C. Pienaar, J. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5830-5454 Pierre, M. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9714-4929 Plante, G. https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4381-674X Pollmann, T.R. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1249-6213 Principe, L. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8752-7694 Qi, J. https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0078-0417 Qin, J. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8228-8949 Ramírez García, D. Rajado, M. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7663-2915 Singh, R. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9564-7795 Sanchez, L. https://orcid.org/0009-0000-4564-4705 dos Santos, J.M.F. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8841-6523 Sarnoff, I. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4914-4991 Sartorelli, G. https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1910-5948 Schreiner, J. Schulte, P. https://orcid.org/0009-0008-9029-3092 Schulze Eißing, H. https://orcid.org/0009-0005-9760-4234 Schumann, M. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5036-1256 Scotto Lavina, L. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3483-8800 Selvi, M. https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0243-0840 Semeria, F. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4328-6454 Shagin, P. https://orcid.org/0009-0003-2423-4311 Shi, S. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2445-6681 Shi, J. Silva, M. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1554-9579 Simgen, H. https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3074-0395 Szyszka, C. Takeda, A. https://orcid.org/0009-0003-6003-072X Tan, P.-L. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5743-2520 Thers, D. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9052-9703 Toschi, F. https://orcid.org/0009-0007-8336-9207 Trinchero, G. https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0866-6379 Tunnell, C.D. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8158-7795 Tönnies, F. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2287-5815 Valerius, K. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7964-974X Vecchi, S. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4311-3166 Vetter, S. https://orcid.org/0009-0001-2961-5274 Villazon Solar, F.I. Volta, G. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7351-1459 Weinheimer, C. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4083-9068 Weiss, M. https://orcid.org/0009-0005-3996-3474 Wenz, D. https://orcid.org/0009-0004-5242-3571 Wittweg, C. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8494-740X Wu, V.H.S. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8111-1532 Xing, Y. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1866-5188 Xu, D. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7361-9195 Xu, Z. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6720-3094 Yamashita, M. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9811-1929 Yang, L. https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5272-050X Ye, J. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6127-2582 Yuan, L. https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0024-8017 Zavattini, G. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6089-7185 Zhong, M. https://orcid.org/0009-0004-2968-6357
Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information:	© 2025. Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article’s title, journal citation, and DOI. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Keywords:	Cosmic rays & astroparticles; Particle dark matter
Dates:	Submitted: 26 September 2024 Accepted: 21 January 2025 Published (online): 20 March 2025 Published: 20 March 2025
Institution:	The University of Sheffield
Academic Units:	The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Science (Sheffield) > School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences
Depositing User:	Symplectic Sheffield
Date Deposited:	09 May 2025 11:58
Last Modified:	09 May 2025 12:00
Status:	Published
Publisher:	American Physical Society (APS)
Refereed:	Yes
Identification Number:	10.1103/physrevlett.134.111802
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID):	oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:226430

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First search for light dark matter in the neutrino fog with XENONnT

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