DarkSide-20k sensitivity to light dark matter particles

• Published in: arXiv.org 2024-07
• Main Authors: Albergo, S, Alexander, T, Aprile, E, M Atzori Corona, Ave, M, Blua, S, Bonivento, W, Bottino, B, Bussino, S, Caminata, A, Cárdenas-Montes, M, Cargioli, N, Carlini, M, Castello, P, Cebrian, S, Chashin, S, Costa, B S, Darbo, G, De Cecco, S, Dellacasa, G, Derbin, A V, D Díaz Mairena, Dolganov, G, Franchini, P, Gallina, G, Gallus, G, Grandi, L, Gulino, M, Hamer, A, Hessel, T, J Hu, Hubaut, F, Hucker, J, Jamil, A, Jillings, C, Keloth, R, Kemp, A, Kondo, K, Kotsiopoulou, L, Koulosousas, S, Lai, M, E Le Guirriec, Leason, E, Lidey, L, Lychagina, O, Machulin, I N, Marasciulli, A, Mari, S M, Martinez, M, Mavrokoridis, K, McDonald, A B, Mclaughlin, J, Mitra, A, Moretti, E, Morrocchi, M, Murphy, M, Musico, P, Nania, R, Nikolopoulos, K, Nikoloudaki, E, Olchanski, K, Ortiz de Solórzano, A, Pandola, L, Paoloni, E, Pastuszak, G, Peck, A, Pegoraro, P A, Pellegrini, L A, Perez, R, Perotti, F, Pino, N, Plante, G, Poehlmann, M, Pordes, S, Pralavorio, P, Price, D, M Queiroga Bazetto, Roberts, A, Salomone, P, Sandford, E, Sanfilippo, S, Santos, E M, Savarese, C, Scapparone, E, Simeone, M, Skensved, P, Smirnov, O, Steri, A, Sunny, C, Taylor, A, Taylor, J, Thompson, A, Tonazzo, A, Torres-Lara, S, Unzhakov, E V, Vallivilayil, T J, Westerdale, S, Wojaczyński, R, Xie, Y, Zhang, Y
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Argon; Cross-sections; Dark matter; Neutrinos; Particle physics; Radiation counters; Sensitivity analysis; Weakly interacting massive particles
• ISSN: 2331-8422

The dual-phase liquid argon time projection chamber is presently one of the leading technologies to search for dark matter particles with masses below 10 GeV/c\(^2\). This was demonstrated by the DarkSide-50 experiment with approximately 50 kg of low-radioactivity liquid argon as target material. The next generation experiment DarkSide-20k, currently under construction, will use 1,000 times more argon and is expected to start operation in 2027. Based on the DarkSide-50 experience, here we assess the DarkSide-20k sensitivity to models predicting light dark matter particles, including Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs) and sub-GeV/c\(^2\) particles interacting with electrons in argon atoms. With one year of data, a sensitivity improvement to dark matter interaction cross-sections by at least one order of magnitude with respect to DarkSide-50 is expected for all these models. A sensitivity to WIMP--nucleon interaction cross-sections below \(1\times10^{-42}\) cm\(^2\) is achievable for WIMP masses above 800 MeV/c\(^2\). With 10 years exposure, the neutrino fog can be reached for WIMP masses around 5 GeV/c\(^2\).