Dark Photons, Axions and Interaction between WIMPs and Electrons in the COSINE-100 and COSINE-200 Experiments

• Grant number: 22/13293-5
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate
• Effective date (Start): March 01, 2023
• Effective date (End): August 31, 2026
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Physics - Nuclear Physics
• Principal Investigator: Nelson Carlin Filho
• Grantee: Luis Eduardo Funo de Moura França
• Host Institution: Instituto de Física (IF). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Astrophysical and cosmological observations confirm the dark matter existence in the universe. Even though its gravitational interaction is the only one known, different theories predict other forms of connection to the standard model. The main candidates are the WIMPs, which are searched by various experiments over the world for some years already. No experiment to date has obtained positive results for the dark matter detection, except for DAMA/LIBRA, whose data show an annual modulation in the measured event rate, although other experiments contradict its results. The COSINE-100 experiment has been created aiming the confirmation or refutation of DAMA/LIBRA results, and data taken for around 3 years do not indicate the WIMPs detection. Negative results from the majority of experiments incentivate the search for other dark matter candidates, or even for other types of interaction between WIMPs and the standard model, beyond the commomly considered. Some most considered alternative candidates are the dark photons and axions, bosons which, depending on its mass, could be produced in the interior of the Sun. Also, the interaction between WIMPs and electrons is much studied, even though no experiment which uses NaI(Tl) detectors has searched for this interaction to date. Thus, the search for these models of solar bosonic dark matter, as well as for the interaction between WIMPs and electrons through a vector mediator is increasingly considered in recent works. In this context, the search for events related to solar dark photons and axions, and to WIMPs interacting with electrons in the NaI(Tl) crystals of the COSINE-100 and future COSINE-200 experiments is the objective of this PhD project.

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

ADHIKARI, G.; CARLIN, N.; CHOI, J. J.; CHOI, S.; EZERIBE, A. C.; FRANCA, L. E.; HA, C.; HAHN, I. S.; HOLLICK, S. J.; JEON, E. J.; et al. Search for solar bosonic dark matter annual modulation with COSINE-100. PHYSICAL REVIEW D, v. 107, n. 12, p. 14-pg., 2023-06-26. (22/13293-5, 21/06743-1, 22/12002-7)