Dark Matter Search Results from the PICO-60 CF$_3$I Bubble Chamber

C. Amole; M. Ardid; D. M. Asner; D. Baxter; E. Behnke; P. Bhattacharjee; H. Borsodi; M. Bou-Cabo; S. J. Brice; D. Broemmelsiek; K. Clark; J. I. Collar; P. S. Cooper; M. Crisler; C. E. Dahl; S. Daley; M. Das; F. Debris; N. Dhungana; J. Farine; I. Felis; R. Filgas; F. Girard; G. Giroux; A. Grandison; M. Hai; J. Hall; O. Harris; M. Jin; C. B. Krauss; S. Fallows; M. Lafrenière; M. Laurin; I. Lawson; I. Levine; W. H. Lippincott; E. Mann; D. Maurya; P. Mitra; R. Neilson; A. J. Noble; A. Plante; R. B. Podviianiuk; S. Priya; E. Ramberg; A. E. Robinson; R. Rucinski; M. Ruschman; O. Scallon; S. Seth; P. Simon; A. Sonnenschein; I. Štekl; E. Vàzquez-Jàuregui; J. Wells; U. Wichoski; V. Zacek; J. Zhang; I. A. Shkrob

doi:10.1103/physrevd.93.052014

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arXiv · 1510.07754

Dark Matter Search Results from the PICO-60 CF$_3$I Bubble Chamber

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Abstract

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.

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C. Amole, M. Ardid, D. M. Asner, D. Baxter, E. Behnke, P. Bhattacharjee, H. Borsodi, M. Bou-Cabo, S. J. Brice, D. Broemmelsiek, K. Clark, J. I. Collar, P. S. Cooper, M. Crisler, C. E. Dahl, S. Daley, M. Das, F. Debris, N. Dhungana, J. Farine, I. Felis, R. Filgas, F. Girard, G. Giroux, A. Grandison, M. Hai, J. Hall, O. Harris, M. Jin, C. B. Krauss, S. Fallows, M. Lafrenière, M. Laurin, I. Lawson, I. Levine, W. H. Lippincott, E. Mann, D. Maurya, P. Mitra, R. Neilson, A. J. Noble, A. Plante, R. B. Podviianiuk, S. Priya, E. Ramberg, A. E. Robinson, R. Rucinski, M. Ruschman, O. Scallon, S. Seth, P. Simon, A. Sonnenschein, I. Štekl, E. Vàzquez-Jàuregui, J. Wells, U. Wichoski, V. Zacek, J. Zhang, I. A. Shkrob. 2016-03-03. Dark Matter Search Results from the PICO-60 CF$_3$I Bubble Chamber. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevd.93.052014

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