The PICASSO dark matter search experiment operated an array of 32 superheated droplet detectors containing 3.0 kg of C$_{4}$F$_{10}$ and collected an exposure of 231.4 kgd at SNOLAB between March 2012 and January 2014. We report on the final results of this experiment which includes for the first time the complete data set and improved analysis techniques including mbox{acoustic} localization to allow fiducialization and removal of higher activity regions within the detectors. No signal consistent with dark matter was observed. We set limits for spin-dependent interactions on protons of $sigma_p^{SD}$~=~1.32~$times$~10$^{-2}$~pb (90%~C.L.) at a WIMP mass of 20 GeV/c$^{2}$. In the spin-independent sector we exclude cross sections larger than $sigma_p^{SI}$~=~4.86~$times$~10$^{-5 }$~pb~(90% C.L.) in the region around 7 GeV/c$^{2}$. The pioneering efforts of the PICASSO experiment have paved the way forward for a next generation detector incorporating much of this technology and experience into larger mass bubble chambers.
We report on the first dark-matter (DM) search results from PandaX-I, a low threshold dual-phase xenon experiment operating at the China Jinping Underground Laboratory. In the 37-kg liquid xenon target with 17.4 live-days of exposure, no DM particle candidate event was found. This result sets a stringent limit for low-mass DM particles and disfavors the interpretation of previously-reported positive experimental results. The minimum upper limit, $3.7times10^{-44}$,cm$^2$, for the spin-independent isoscalar DM-particle-nucleon scattering cross section is obtained at a DM-particle mass of 49,GeV/c$^2$ at 90% confidence level.
This Letter reports results from a haloscope search for dark matter axions with masses between 2.66 and 2.81 $mu$eV. The search excludes the range of axion-photon couplings predicted by plausible models of the invisible axion. This unprecedented sensitivity is achieved by operating a large-volume haloscope at sub-kelvin temperatures, thereby reducing thermal noise as well as the excess noise from the ultra-low-noise SQUID amplifier used for the signal power readout. Ongoing searches will provide nearly definitive tests of the invisible axion model over a wide range of axion masses.
We report the results of a weakly-interacting massive particle (WIMP) dark matter search using the full 80.1;live-day exposure of the first stage of the PandaX experiment (PandaX-I) located in the China Jin-Ping Underground Laboratory. The PandaX-I detector has been optimized for detecting low-mass WIMPs, achieving a photon detection efficiency of 9.6%. With a fiducial liquid xenon target mass of 54.0,kg, no significant excess event were found above the expected background. A profile likelihood analysis confirms our earlier finding that the PandaX-I data disfavor all positive low-mass WIMP signals reported in the literature under standard assumptions. A stringent bound on the low mass WIMP is set at WIMP mass below 10,GeV/c$^2$, demonstrating that liquid xenon detectors can be competitive for low-mass WIMP searches.
This paper reports on a cavity haloscope search for dark matter axions in the galactic halo in the mass range $2.81$-$3.31$ ${mu}eV$. This search excludes the full range of axion-photon coupling values predicted in benchmark models of the invisible axion that solve the strong CP problem of quantum chromodynamics, and marks the first time a haloscope search has been able to search for axions at mode crossings using an alternate cavity configuration. Unprecedented sensitivity in this higher mass range is achieved by deploying an ultra low-noise Josephson parametric amplifier as the first stage signal amplifier.
New data are reported from the operation of the PICO-60 dark matter detector, a bubble chamber filled with 36.8 kg of CF$_3$I and located in the SNOLAB underground laboratory. PICO-60 is the largest bubble chamber to search for dark matter to date. With an analyzed exposure of 92.8 livedays, PICO-60 exhibits the same excellent background rejection observed in smaller bubble chambers. Alpha decays in PICO-60 exhibit frequency-dependent acoustic calorimetry, similar but not identical to that reported recently in a C$_3$F$_8$ bubble chamber. PICO-60 also observes a large population of unknown background events, exhibiting acoustic, spatial, and timing behaviors inconsistent with those expected from a dark matter signal. These behaviors allow for analysis cuts to remove all background events while retaining $48.2%$ of the exposure. Stringent limits on weakly interacting massive particles interacting via spin-dependent proton and spin-independent processes are set, and most interpretations of the DAMA/LIBRA modulation signal as dark matter interacting with iodine nuclei are ruled out.