Open AccessHunting for light dark matter with DUNE PRISM
Author(s) -
Valentina De Romeri,
Kevin J. Kelly,
Pedro A. N. Machado
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
journal of physics. conference series
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.21
H-Index - 85
eISSN - 1742-6596
pISSN - 1742-6588
DOI - 10.1088/1742-6596/1468/1/012061
Subject(s) - physics , dark matter , light dark matter , prism , scalar field dark matter , dark photon , mixed dark matter , warm dark matter , particle physics , astrophysics , dark energy , optics , cosmology
We present the prospects for exploring low-scale dark sectors with the future DUNE experiment and the impact of the movable off-axis near detector concept, DUNE-PRISM, and a higher energy beam configuration. We focus on a simple scenario which extends the Standard Model by a “dark” U(1), comprising scalar or fermion dark matter and a dark photon kinetically mixed with the photon. We consider nucleus and electron scattering signatures of dark matter produced in the beam via neutral pseudoscalar meson decays. Our results show that, by analysing the energy spectra of single electron events in multiple off-axis angle, DUNE-PRISM can substantially increase the experimental sensitivity to these models, reaching theoretical targets for thermal relic dark matter for a wide range of dark photon and dark matter masses.