Search for bosonic superweakly interacting massive dark matter particles with the XMASS-I detector

Area of Science:

• Particle Physics
• Cosmology
• Astrophysics

Background:

• Dark matter candidates include bosonic super-weakly interacting massive particles (super-WIMPs).
• Super-WIMPs could be detected via absorption by xenon atoms, depositing energy equal to their rest mass.

Purpose of the Study:

• To perform the first direct detection experiment for vector super-WIMPs.
• To explore vector super-WIMPs in the 40-120 keV mass range.
• To constrain the properties of pseudoscalar super-WIMPs.

Main Methods:

• Utilized 165.9 days of experimental data.
• Employed a 41 kg fiducial mass detector.
• Achieved a low background level of 10^-4 kg^-1 keVee^-1 day^-1.

Main Results:

• No significant excess above background was observed.
• Established new limits for vector super-WIMPs.
• Provided the most stringent direct constraints on pseudoscalar super-WIMPs coupling to electrons.

Conclusions:

• Vector super-WIMPs cannot constitute all of the dark matter.
• The experiment demonstrated unprecedented sensitivity in direct dark matter detection.