Aalbers, J., Akerib, D.S., Musalhi, A.K.A. et al. (216 more authors) (2025) First constraint on atmospheric millicharged particles with the LUX-ZEPLIN experiment. Physical Review Letters, 134 (24). 241802. ISSN 0031-9007
Abstract
We report on a search for millicharged particles (mCPs) produced in cosmic ray atmospheric interactions using data collected during the first science run of the LUX-ZEPLIN experiment. The mCPs produced by two processes—meson decay and proton bremsstrahlung—are considered in this study. This search utilized a novel signature unique to liquid xenon (LXe) time projection chambers, allowing sensitivity to mCPs with masses ranging from 10 to 1000 MeV/c2 and fractional charges between 0.001 and 0.02 of the electron charge (e). With an exposure of 60 live days and a 5.5 metric ton fiducial mass, we observed no significant excess over background. This represents the first experimental search for atmospheric mCPs and the first search for mCPs using an underground LXe experiment.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2025 Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article’s title, journal citation, and DOI. Funded by SCOAP3. |
Keywords: | Nuclear and Plasma Physics; Physical Sciences |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Science (Sheffield) > Department of Physics and Astronomy (Sheffield) |
Funding Information: | Funder Grant number SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY FACILITIES COUNCIL ST/W000547/1 |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 25 Jun 2025 13:35 |
Last Modified: | 25 Jun 2025 13:35 |
Status: | Published online |
Publisher: | American Physical Society (APS) |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1103/zhs9-65ds |
Related URLs: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:228352 |