학술논문

The DAMIC excess from WIMP-nucleus elastic scattering
Document Type
Working Paper
Source
Subject
Astrophysics - Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics
Language
Abstract
Two dark matter searches performed with charge-coupled devices (CCDs) in the DAMIC cryostat at SNOLAB reported with high statistical significance the presence of an unidentified source of low-energy events in bulk silicon. The observed spectrum is consistent with nuclear recoils from the elastic scattering of weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs) with masses between 2 and 4 GeV. In the standard scenario of spin-independent WIMP-nucleus scattering, the derived cross section is conclusively excluded by results in argon by the DarkSide-50 experiment. We identify isospin-violating and spin-dependent scenarios where interactions with $^{40}$Ar are strongly suppressed and the interpretation of the DAMIC excess as WIMP-nucleus elastic scattering remains viable.
Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures