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Daily modulation constraints on light dark matter with DAMIC-M

K. Aggarwal1, I. Arnquist2, N. Avalos3, X. Bertou4,3, N. Castelló-Mor5, C. Centeno-Lorca5, A. E. Chavarria1, J. Cuevas-Zepeda6, A. Dastgheibi-Fard7 et al. (DAMIC-M Collaboration)

A. Dastgheibi-Fard7, C. De Dominicis3, O. Deligny4, J. Duarte-Campderros5, E. Estrada8, R. Gaïor3, E.-L. Gkougkousis9, T. Hossbach2, L. Iddir3, B. J. Kavanagh5, B. Kilminster9, I. Lawson10, A. Letessier-Selvon3, H. Lin11, P. Loaiza4, A. Lopez-Virto5, R. Lou6, H. Lumengo-Kidimbu3, K. J. McGuire1, S. Munagavalasa6, J. Noonan6, D. Norcini11, S. Paul6, P. Privitera6,3,12, P. Robmann9, B. Roach6, D. Rosenmerkel11, M. Settimo13, R. Smida6, M. Traina5, R. Vilar5, R. Yajur6, D. Venegas-Vargas11, C. Zhu11, and Y. Zhu3 (DAMIC-M Collaboration)

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Phys. Rev. D 114, 032010 – Published 19 August, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/c9fm-ymf2

Abstract

The flux of Hidden Sector particles from the Galactic halo reaching an underground detector can be significantly attenuated by interactions within the Earth for sufficiently large scattering cross- sections. This attenuation gives rise to a characteristic daily modulation in the detection rate, due to Earth’s rotation. We present results from a search for such a modulation using a 1.257 kg-day dataset collected with the DAMIC-M Low Background Chamber. A model-independent analysis reveals no significant modulation in the 1e− event rate over periods from 1 to 48 h, highlighting the excellent temporal stability of the detector. In a complementary model-dependent analysis, we target the expected daily modulation signature of Hidden Sector particles, with masses in the range [0.53,2]  MeV/c2, interacting with electrons via a dark photon mediator. By leveraging the expected temporal evolution of the signal, we set improved constraints on Dark Matter masses below 1.2  MeV/c2, surpassing our previous limits.

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Probing Benchmark Models of Hidden-Sector Dark Matter with DAMIC-M

K. Aggarwal et al. (DAMIC-M Collaboration)
Phys. Rev. Lett. 135, 071002 (2025)

Article Text

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Phys. Rev. D 114, 032010– Published 19 August, 2026
  • Received 25 November 2025
  • Accepted 22 June 2026
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Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article’s title, journal citation, and DOI. Funded by SCOAP3.

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