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DOE OSTI2024

Non-universal SUSY models, $g_\mu -2$, $m_H$ and dark matter

We study the anomalous magnetic moment of the muon, g μ – 2 ≡ 2a μ , in the context of supersymmetric models beyond the CMSSM, where the unification of either the gaugino masses M 1,2,3 or sfermion and Higgs masses is relaxed, taking into account the measured mass of the Higgs boson, m H , the cosmological dark matter density and the direct detection rate. We find that the model with non-unified gaugino masses can make a contribution Δa μ ~ 20 x 10 –10 to the anomalous magnetic moment of the muon, for example if M 1,2 ~ 600 GeV and M 3 ~ 8 TeV. The model with non-universal sfermion and Higgs masses can provide even larger Δa μ ~ 24 x 10 –10 if the sfermion masses for the first and the second generations are ~400 GeV and that of the third is ~8 TeV. We discuss the prospects for collider searches for supersymmetric particles in specific benchmark scenarios illustrating these possibilities, focusing in particular on the prospects for detecting the lighter smuon and the lightest neutralino.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

DOE OSTI2026

Particle trajectory representation learning with masked point modeling

Liquid argon time projection chambers (LArTPCs) offer millimeter-scale 3D images of particle trajectories, enabling precision studies of neutrino oscillation, detection of supernova and solar neutrinos, searches for exotic dark matter, and proton decay. Current approaches utilize supervised machine learning models, requiring extensive simulations of particle physics and detector response that can introduce bias. Self-supervised learning (SSL), a machine learning approach that learns useful representations of unlabeled data from the data itself, has significantly advanced how large datasets are utilized for representation learning; however, its potential for applications to sensory data in high precision particle physics experiments remains largely unexplored. We introduce the Point-based liquid argon masked autoencoder (PoLAr-MAE), a self-supervised framework that learns physically meaningful representations directly from unlabeled LArTPC images. PoLAr-MAE achieves remarkable data efficiency for a point-level segmentation task, outperforming fully supervised methods in low data regimes. Linear classifiers on model outputs demonstrate robust performance across multiple downstream tasks. Our results position sensor-level SSL as a practical foundation model strategy for LArTPCs.

Young, Samuel [Stanford Univ., CA (United States)]↗

NASA NTRS2004

Seismic Search for Strange Quark Matter

Two decades ago, Witten suggested that the ground state of matter might be material of nuclear density made from up, down and strange quarks. Since then, much effort has gone into exploring astrophysical and other implications of this possibility. For example, neutron stars would almost certainly be strange quark stars; dark matter might be strange quark matter. Searches for stable strange quark matter have been made in various mass ranges, with negative, but not conclusive results. Recently, we [D. Anderson, E. Herrin, V. Teplitz, and I. Tibuleac, Bull. Seis. Soc. of Am. 93, 2363 (2003)] reported a positive result for passage through the Earth of a multi-ton "nugget" of nuclear density in a search of about a million seismic reports, to the U.S. Geological Survey for the years 1990-93, not associated with known Earthquakes. I will present the evidence (timing of first signals to the 9 stations involved, first signal directions, and unique waveform characteristics) for our conclusion and discuss potential improvements that could be obtained from exploiting the seismologically quieter environments of the moon and Mars.

Teplitz, Vigdor↗

DOE OSTI2022

Calorimetric Detection of Dark Matter

Dark matter direct detection experiments are designed to look for the scattering of dark matter particles that are assumed to move with virial velocities $\sim 10^{-3}$. At these velocities, the energy deposition in the detector is large enough to cause ionization/scintillation, forming the primary class of signatures looked for in such experiments. These experiments are blind to a large class of dark matter models where the dark matter has relatively large scattering cross-sections with the standard model, resulting in the dark matter undergoing multiple scattering with the atmosphere and the rock overburden, and thus slowing down considerably before arriving at underground detectors. We propose to search for these kinds of dark matter by looking for the anomalous heating of a well shielded and sensitive calorimeter. In this detector concept, the dark matter is thermalized with the rock overburden but is able to pierce through the thermal shields of the detector causing anomalous heating. Using the technologies under development for EDELWEISS and SuperCDMS, we estimate the sensitivity of such a calorimetric detector. In addition to models with large dark matter - standard model interactions, these detectors also have the ability to probe dark photon dark matter.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

DOE OSTI2025

Searching for MeV-mass neutrinophilic dark matter with large scale dark matter detectors

The indirect detection of dark matter (DM) through its annihilation products is one of the primary strategies for DM detection. One of the least constrained classes of models is neutrinophilic DM, because the annihilation products, weakly interacting neutrinos, are challenging to observe. Here, we consider a scenario where MeV-mass DM exclusively annihilates to the third neutrino mass eigenstate, which is predominantly of tau and muon flavor. In such a scenario, the potential detection rate of the neutrinos originating from the DM annihilation in our Galaxy in the conventional detectors would be suppressed by up to approximately two orders of magnitude. This is because the best sensitivity of such detectors for neutrinos with energies below approximately 100 MeV is for electron neutrino flavor. In this work, we highlight the potential of large-scale DM detectors in uncovering such signals in the tens of MeV range of DM masses. In addition, we discuss how coincident signals in direct detection DM experiments and upcoming neutrino detectors such as DUNE, Hyper-Kamiokande, and JUNO could provide new perspectives on the DM problem. Published by the American Physical Society 2025

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

DOE OSTI2024

Search for interacting galaxy clusters from SDSS DR-17 employing optimized friends-of-friends algorithm and multimessenger tracers

ABSTRACT In the theoretical framework of hierarchical structure formation, galaxy clusters evolve through continuous accretion and mergers of substructures. Cosmological simulations have revealed the best picture of the universe as a 3D filamentary network of dark-matter distribution called the cosmic web. Galaxy clusters are found to form at the nodes of this network and are the regions of high merging activity. Such mergers being highly energetic, contain a wealth of information about the dynamical evolution of structures in the Universe. Observational validation of this scenario needs a colossal effort to identify numerous events from all-sky surveys. Therefore, such efforts are sparse in literature and tend to focus on individual systems. In this work, we present an improved search algorithm for identifying interacting galaxy clusters and have successfully produced a comprehensive list of systems from SDSS DR-17. By proposing a set of physically motivated criteria, we classified these interacting clusters into two broad classes, ‘merging’ and ‘pre-merging/postmerging’ systems. Interestingly, as predicted by simulations, we found that most cases show cluster interaction along the prominent cosmic filaments of galaxy distribution (i.e. the proxy for dark matter filaments), with the most violent ones at their nodes. Moreover, we traced the imprint of interactions through multiband signatures, such as diffuse cluster emissions in radio or X-rays. Although we could not find direct evidence of diffuse emission from connecting filaments and ridges; our catalogue of interacting clusters will ease locating such faintest emissions as data from sensitive telescopes such as eROSITA or SKA, becomes accessible.

Oak, Tejas↗

DOE OSTI2021

Collider probes of real triplet scalar dark matter

We study discovery prospects for a real triplet extension of the Standard Model scalar sector at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) and a possible future 100 TeV $\mathcal{pp}$ collider. We focus on the scenario in which the neutral triplet scalar is stable and contributes to the dark matter relic density. When produced in $\mathcal{pp}$ collisions, the charged triplet scalar decays to the neutral component plus a soft pion or soft lepton pair, yielding a disappearing charged track in the detector. We recast current 13 TeV LHC searches for disappearing tracks, and find that the LHC presently excludes a real triplet scalar lighter than 248 (275) GeV, for a mass splitting of 172 (160) MeV with $\mathcal{L}$ = 36 fb –1 . The reach can extend to 497 (520) GeV with the collection of 3000 fb –1 . We extrapolate the 13 TeV analysis to a prospective 100 TeV pp collider, and find that a ~ 3 TeV triplet scalar could be discoverable with $\mathcal{L}$ = 30 ab –1 , depending on the degree to which pile up effects are under control. We also investigate the dark matter candidate in our model and corresponding present and prospective constraints from dark matter direct detection. We find that currently XENON1T can exclude a real triplet dark matter lighter than ~ 3 TeV for a Higgs portal coupling of order one or larger, and the future XENON20T will cover almost the entire dark matter viable parameter space except for vanishingly small portal coupling.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

DOE OSTI2024

Ultralight dark matter detection with levitated ferromagnets

Levitated ferromagnets act as ultraprecise magnetometers, which can exhibit high quality factors due to their excellent isolation from the environment. These instruments can be utilized in searches for ultralight dark matter candidates, such as axionlike dark matter or dark-photon dark matter. In addition to being sensitive to an axion-photon coupling or kinetic mixing, which produce physical magnetic fields, ferromagnets are also sensitive to the effective magnetic field (or “axion wind”) produced by an axion-electron coupling. While the dynamics of a levitated ferromagnet in response to a dc magnetic field have been well studied, all of these couplings would produce ac fields. In this work, we study the response of a ferromagnet to an applied ac magnetic field and use these results to project their sensitivity to axion and dark-photon dark matter. We pay special attention to the direction of motion induced by an applied ac field, in particular, whether it precesses around the applied field (similar to an electron spin) or librates in the plane of the field (similar to a compass needle). We show that existing levitated ferromagnet setups can already have comparable sensitivity to an axion-electron coupling as comagnetometer or torsion balance experiments. In addition, future setups can become sensitive probes of axion-electron coupling, dark-photon kinetic mixing, and axion-photon coupling, for ultralight dark matter masses m DM ≲ feV . Published by the American Physical Society 2024

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

DOE OSTI2025

Lepto-axiogenesis with light right-handed neutrinos

We study lepto-axiogenesis in theories where the right-handed neutrino is light enough that its dynamics affect the determination of the baryon asymmetry. When compared with theories of high-scale lepto-axiogenesis where the Majorana neutrino mass may be treated as an effective dimension-five operator, we find that the predicted saxion mass is lower. Two distinct scenarios emerge. In the first, processes that generate the baryon asymmetry are in equilibrium down to the mass of the right-handed neutrino. In the second, the relevant processes never reach equilibrium; the baryon number freezes in. We comment on implications for supersymmetric spectra and discuss constraints on late decays of supersymmetric relics and from dark radiation. In contrast to high-scale lepto-axiogenesis, which predicts superpartners with masses of 10–100 TeV or more, we find this scenario is consistent with a wider range of superpartner masses, all the way down to current direct search bounds.

Axions and ALPs↗

DOE OSTI2022

Coherent Scattering of Low Mass Dark Matter from Optically Trapped Sensors

In this work, we propose a search for low mass dark matter particles through momentum recoils caused by their scattering from trapped, nanometer-scale objects. Our projections show that even with a modest array of femtogram-mass sensors, parameter space beyond the reach of existing experiments can be explored. The case of smaller, attogram-mass sensors is also analyzed-where dark matter can coherently scatter from the entire sensor-enabling a large enhancement in the scattering cross-section relative to interactions with single nuclei. Large arrays of such sensors have the potential to investigate new parameter space down to dark matter masses as low as 10 keV. If recoils from dark matter are detected by such sensors, their inherent directional sensitivity would allow an unambiguous identification of a dark matter signal.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

DOE OSTI2025

First Limits on Light Dark Matter Interactions in a Low Threshold Two-Channel Athermal Phonon Detector from the TESSERACT Collaboration

We present results of a search for spin-independent dark matter-nucleus interactions in a 1 cm 2 by 1 mm thick (0.233 g) high-resolution silicon athermal phonon detector operated above ground. For interactions in the substrate, this detector achieves an rms baseline energy resolution of 361.5⁢(4) m⁢ eV (statistical error), the best for any athermal phonon detector to date. With an exposure of 0.233 g ×12 hours, we place the most stringent constraints on dark matter masses between 44 and 87 M⁢ eV/c 2 , with the lowest unexplored cross section of 4⁢ × 10 −32 c⁢m 2 at 87 M⁢ eV/c 2 . We employ a conservative salting technique to reach the lowest dark matter mass ever probed via direct detection experiment. This constraint is enabled by two-channel rejection of low energy backgrounds that are coupled to individual sensors.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

DOE OSTI2024

Scintillating Bubble Chambers for Direct Dark Matter Detection, and an Update on SBC-LAr10

The Scintillating Bubble Chamber (SBC) Collaboration aims to use the liquid-noble bubble chamber technology as a low-threshold detector for dark matter particles of 1-10 GeV/c2. The detector combines the remarkable electron recoil (ER) discrimination of the bubble chamber with the event-by-event energy resolution provided by liquid argon (LAr) scintillation, with the crucial added benefit that ER discrimination in liquid-noble bubble chambers extends to much lower thresholds than in past freon-filled bubble chambers, with the potential for quasi-background-free operation at thresholds of 100 eV in nuclear recoil (NR) energy. SBC has developed two functionally identical 10 kg detectors: SBC-LAr10 at Fermilab will calibrate low-threshold performance, while the radio-pure SBC-SNOLAB chamber will execute SBC s first deep-underground dark matter search. SBC-LAr10 at Fermilab was recently installed in the MINOS tunnel 100 meters underground, and the first bubbles are expected this fall. I will present the current status of SBC-LAr10 and describe the suite of gamma and neutron calibrations we will execute. The calibrations will confirm the physics reach of this new technology, motivating not just the SBC-SNOLAB chamber now being assembled but also future searches into the solar neutrino fog at 1 GeV/c2.

Sheng, Zhiheng↗

DOE OSTI2024

Scintillating Bubble Chambers for Direct Dark Matter Detection, and an Update on SBC-LAr10

Sheng, Zhiheng↗

NASA NTRS2016

Searching for Decaying Dark Matter in Deep XMM-Newton Observation of the Draco Dwarf Spheroidal

We present results of a search for the 3.5 keV emission line in our recent very long (approx. 1.4 Ms) XMM-Newton observation of the Draco dwarf spheroidal galaxy. The astrophysical X-ray emission from such dark matter-dominated galaxies is faint, thus they provide a test for the dark matter origin of the 3.5 keV line previously detected in other massive, but X-ray bright objects, such as galaxies and galaxy clusters. We do not detect a statistically significant emission line from Draco; this constrains the lifetime of a decaying dark matter particle to tau >(7-9) × 10(exp 27) s at 95% CL (combining all three XMM-Newton cameras; the interval corresponds to the uncertainty of the dark matter column density in the direction of Draco). The PN camera, which has the highest sensitivity of the three, does show a positive spectral residual (above the carefully modeled continuum) at E = 3.54 +/- 0.06 keV with a 2.3(sigma) significance. The two MOS cameras show less-significant or no positive deviations, consistently within 1(sigma) with PN. Our Draco limit on tau is consistent with previous detections in the stacked galaxy clusters, M31 and the Galactic Centre within their 1 − 2(sigma) uncertainties, but is inconsistent with the high signal from the core of the Perseus cluster (which has itself been inconsistent with the rest of the detections). We conclude that this Draco observation does not exclude the dark matter interpretation of the 3.5 keV line in those objects.

dark matter↗

DOE OSTI2025

Athermal phonon collection efficiency in diamond crystals for low mass dark matter detection

Here, we explored the efficacy of lab-grown diamonds as potential target materials for the direct detection of sub-GeV dark matter (DM) using metallic magnetic calorimeters (MMCs). Diamond, with its excellent phononic properties and the low atomic mass of the constituent carbon, can play a crucial role in detecting low mass dark matter particles. The relatively long electron-hole pair lifetime inside the crystal may provide discrimination power between the DM-induced nuclear recoil events and the background-induced electron recoil events. Utilizing the fast response times of the MMCs and their unique geometric versatility, we deployed a novel methodology for quantifying phonon dynamics inside diamond crystals. We demonstrated that lab-grown diamond crystals fabricated via the chemical vapor deposition (CVD) technique can satisfy the stringent quality requirements for sub-GeV dark matter searches. The high-quality polycrystalline CVD diamond showed a superior athermal phonon collection efficiency compared to that of the reference sapphire crystal, and achieved energy resolution 62.7 eV at the 8.05 keV copper fluorescence line. With this energy resolution, we explored the low-energy range below 100 eV and confirmed the existence of so-called low-energy excess (LEE) reported by multiple cryogenic experiments.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

DOE OSTI2020

Results on low-mass weakly interacting massive particles from an 11 kg d target exposure of DAMIC at SNOLAB

We present constraints on the existence of weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs) from a 11 kg-day target exposure of the DAMIC experiment at the SNOLAB underground laboratory. The observed energy spectrum and spatial distribution of ionization events with electron-equivalent energies $>$200 eV$_{\rm ee}$ in the DAMIC CCDs are consistent with backgrounds from natural radioactivity. An excess of ionization events is observed above the analysis threshold of 50 eV$_{\rm ee}$. While the origin of this low-energy excess requires further investigation, our data exclude spin-independent WIMP-nucleon scattering cross sections $\sigma_{\chi-n}$ as low as $3\times 10^{-41}$ cm$^2$ for WIMPs with masses $m_{\chi}$ from 7 to 10 GeV$c^{-2}$ . These results are the strongest constraints from a silicon target on the existence of WIMPs with $m_{\chi}$$<$9 GeV$c^{-2}$ and are directly relevant to any dark matter interpretation of the excess of nuclear-recoil events observed by the CDMS silicon experiment in 2013.

WIMP search, Dark Matter, DAMIC, SNOLAB↗

DOE OSTI2021

New Projections for Dark Matter Searches with Paleo-Detectors

Paleo-detectors are a proposed experimental technique to search for dark matter (DM). In lieu of the conventional approach of operating a tonne-scale real-time detector to search for DM-induced nuclear recoils, paleo-detectors take advantage of small samples of naturally occurring rocks on Earth that have been deep underground (≳5 km), accumulating nuclear damage tracks from recoiling nuclei for O(1)Gyr. Modern microscopy techniques promise the capability to read out nuclear damage tracks with nanometer resolution in macroscopic samples. Thanks to their O(1)Gyr integration times, paleo-detectors could constitute nuclear recoil detectors with keV recoil energy thresholds and 100 kilotonne-yr exposures. This combination would allow paleo-detectors to probe DM-nucleon cross sections orders of magnitude below existing upper limits from conventional direct detection experiments. In this article, we use improved background modeling and a new spectral analysis technique to update the sensitivity forecast for paleo-detectors. We demonstrate the robustness of the sensitivity forecast to the (lack of) ancillary measurements of the age of the samples and the parameters controlling the backgrounds, systematic mismodeling of the spectral shape of the backgrounds, and the radiopurity of the mineral samples. Specifically, we demonstrate that even if the uranium concentration in paleo-detector samples is 10−8 (per weight), many orders of magnitude larger than what we expect in the most radiopure samples obtained from ultra basic rock or marine evaporite deposits, paleo-detectors could still probe DM-nucleon cross sections below current limits. For DM masses ≲ 10 GeV/c2, the sensitivity of paleo-detectors could still reach down all the way to the conventional neutrino floor in a Xe-based direct detection experiment.

Baum, Sebastian (ORCID:0000000167929381)↗

DOE OSTI2025

Particle hit clustering and identification using point set transformers in liquid argon time projection chambers

Liquid argon time projection chambers are often used in neutrino physics and dark-matter searches because of their high spatial resolution. The images generated by these detectors are extremely sparse, as the energy values detected by most of the detector are equal to 0, meaning that despite their high resolution, most of the detector is unused in a particular interaction. Instead of representing all of the empty detections, the interaction is usually stored as a sparse matrix, a list of detection locations paired with their energy values. Traditional machine learning methods that have been applied to particle reconstruction such as convolutional neural networks (CNNs), however, cannot operate over data stored in this way and therefore must have the matrix fully instantiated as a dense matrix. Operating on dense matrices requires a lot of memory and computation time, in contrast to directly operating on the sparse matrix. We propose a machine learning model using a point set neural network that operates over a sparse matrix, greatly improving both processing speed and accuracy over methods that instantiate the dense matrix, as well as over other methods that operate over sparse matrices. Compared to competing state-of-the-art methods, our method improves classification performance by 14%, segmentation performance by more than 22%, while taking 80% less time and using 66% less memory. Compared to state-of-the-art CNN methods, our method improves classification performance by more than 86%, segmentation performance by more than 71%, while reducing runtime by 91% and reducing memory usage by 61%.

calibration and fitting methods↗