Absorption of Fermionic Dark Matter in the PICO-60 C_{3}F_{8} Bubble Chamber

Area of Science:

• Particle Physics
• Cosmology
• Astrophysics

Background:

• Direct detection experiments aim to identify dark matter particles.
• Understanding dark matter interactions is crucial for its identification.
• Previous searches have primarily focused on higher mass dark matter candidates.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore fermionic dark matter absorption on nuclear targets via neutral current interactions.
• To set constraints on spin-independent and spin-dependent dark matter absorption.
• To investigate the potential of bubble chambers for low-mass dark matter detection.

Main Methods:

• Utilizing a nonrelativistic effective field theory framework.
• Analyzing data from the PICO-60 C_{3}F_{8} bubble chamber.
• Establishing limits on spin-dependent absorptive interactions.

Main Results:

• Setting leading constraints on spin-independent absorption for dark matter masses below 23 MeV/c².
• Establishing the first limits on spin-dependent absorptive interactions.
• Demonstrating the sensitivity of bubble chambers to low-mass dark matter.

Conclusions:

• Bubble chambers are sensitive detectors for low-mass dark matter.
• Absorption searches are vital for expanding the parameter space of direct detection experiments.
• This research provides new avenues for dark matter detection and characterization.