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New Constraints on Cosmic Ray-Boosted Dark Matter from the LUX-ZEPLIN Experiment

J. Aalbers1,2, D. S. Akerib1,2, A. K. Al Musalhi3,*, F. Alder3, C. S. Amarasinghe4, A. Ames1,2, T. J. Anderson1,2, N. Angelides5, H. M. Araújo5 et al. (LZ Collaboration)

H. M. Araújo5, J. E. Armstrong6, M. Arthurs1,2, A. Baker5,7, S. Balashov8, J. Bang9, J. W. Bargemann4, E. E. Barillier10,11, K. Beattie12, T. Benson13, A. Bhatti6, A. Biekert12,14, T. P. Biesiadzinski1,2, H. J. Birch10,11, E. Bishop15, G. M. Blockinger16, B. Boxer17, C. A. J. Brew8, P. Brás18, S. Burdin19, M. Buuck1,2, M. C. Carmona-Benitez20, M. Carter19, A. Chawla21, H. Chen12, J. J. Cherwinka13, Y. T. Chin20, N. I. Chott22, M. V. Converse23, R. Coronel1,2, A. Cottle3, G. Cox24, D. Curran24, C. E. Dahl25,26, I. Darlington3, S. Dave3, A. David3, J. Delgaudio24, S. Dey27, L. de Viveiros20, L. Di Felice5, C. Ding9, J. E. Y. Dobson3,7, E. Druszkiewicz23, S. Dubey9, S. R. Eriksen28, A. Fan1,2, N. M. Fearon27, N. Fieldhouse27, S. Fiorucci12, H. Flaecher28, E. D. Fraser19, T. M. A. Fruth29, R. J. Gaitskell9, A. Geffre24, J. Genovesi20, C. Ghag3, R. Gibbons12,14, S. Gokhale30, J. Green27, M. G. D. van der Grinten8, J. J. Haiston22, C. R. Hall6, T. Hall19, S. Han1,2, E. Hartigan-O’Connor9, S. J. Haselschwardt10, M. A. Hernandez10,11, S. A. Hertel31, G. Heuermann10, G. J. Homenides32, M. Horn24, D. Q. Huang33, D. Hunt27, E. Jacquet5, R. S. James3, M. K. Kannichankandy16,†, A. C. Kaboth21, A. C. Kamaha33, D. Khaitan23, A. Khazov8, J. Kim4, Y. D. Kim34, J. Kingston17, R. Kirk9, D. Kodroff12, L. Korley10, E. V. Korolkova35, H. Kraus27, S. Kravitz36, L. Kreczko28, V. A. Kudryavtsev35, C. Lawes7, D. S. Leonard34, K. T. Lesko12, C. Levy16, J. Lin12,14, A. Lindote18, W. H. Lippincott4, M. I. Lopes18, W. Lorenzon10, C. Lu9, S. Luitz1,2, P. A. Majewski8, A. Manalaysay12, R. L. Mannino37, C. Maupin24, M. E. McCarthy23, G. McDowell10, D. N. McKinsey12,14, J. McLaughlin25, J. B. McLaughlin3, R. McMonigle16, E. Mizrachi6,37, M. E. Monzani1,2,38, E. Morrison22, B. J. Mount39, M. Murdy31, A. St. J. Murphy15, H. N. Nelson4, F. Neves18, A. Nguyen15, C. L. O’Brien36, I. Olcina12,14, K. C. Oliver-Mallory5, J. Orpwood35, K. Y. Oyulmaz15, K. J. Palladino27, J. Palmer21, N. J. Pannifer28, N. Parveen16, S. J. Patton12, B. Penning10,11, G. Pereira18, E. Perry12, T. Pershing37, A. Piepke32, Y. Qie23, J. Reichenbacher22, C. A. Rhyne9, G. R. C. Rischbieter10,11, E. Ritchey6, H. S. Riyat15, R. Rosero30, T. Rushton35, D. Rynders24, D. Santone21,27, A. B. M. R. Sazzad32, R. W. Schnee22, G. Sehr36, B. Shafer6, S. Shaw15, K. Shi10, T. Shutt1,2, J. J. Silk6, C. Silva18, J. Siniscalco3, R. Smith12,14, V. N. Solovov18, P. Sorensen12, J. Soria12,14, I. Stancu32, A. Stevens3,5, K. Stifter26, B. Suerfu12,14, T. J. Sumner5, A. Swain27, M. Szydagis16, D. R. Tiedt24, M. Timalsina12, Z. Tong5, D. R. Tovey35, J. Tranter35, M. Trask4, M. Tripathi17, A. Usón15, A. C. Vaitkus9, O. Valentino5, V. Velan12, A. Wang1,2, J. J. Wang32, Y. Wang12,14, J. R. Watson12,14, L. Weeldreyer32, T. J. Whitis4, K. Wild20, M. Williams10, W. J. Wisniewski1, L. Wolf21, F. L. H. Wolfs23, S. Woodford19, D. Woodward12,20, C. J. Wright28, Q. Xia12, J. Xu37, Y. Xu33,‡, M. Yeh30, D. Yeum6, W. Zha20, and H. Zhang15 (LZ Collaboration)

  • 1SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Menlo Park, California 94025-7015, USA
  • 2Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology, Stanford University, Stanford, California 94305-4085, USA
  • 3University College London (UCL), Department of Physics and Astronomy, London WC1E 6BT, United Kingdom
  • 4University of California, Santa Barbara, Department of Physics, Santa Barbara, California 93106-9530, USA
  • 5Imperial College London, Physics Department, Blackett Laboratory, London SW7 2AZ, United Kingdom
  • 6University of Maryland, Department of Physics, College Park, Maryland 20742-4111, USA
  • 7King’s College London, Department of Physics, London WC2R 2LS, United Kingdom
  • 8STFC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory (RAL), Didcot, OX11 0QX, United Kingdom
  • 9Brown University, Department of Physics, Providence, Rhode Island 02912-9037, USA
  • 10University of Michigan, Randall Laboratory of Physics, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-1040, USA
  • 11University of Zurich, Department of Physics, 8057 Zurich, Switzerland
  • 12Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, California 94720-8099, USA
  • 13University of Wisconsin-Madison, Department of Physics, Madison, Wisconsin 53706-1390, USA
  • 14University of California, Berkeley, Department of Physics, Berkeley, California 94720-7300, USA
  • 15University of Edinburgh, SUPA, School of Physics and Astronomy, Edinburgh EH9 3FD, United Kingdom
  • 16University at Albany (SUNY), Department of Physics, Albany, New York 12222-0100, USA
  • 17University of California, Davis, Department of Physics, Davis, California 95616-5270, USA
  • 18Laboratório de Instrumentação e Física Experimental de Partículas (LIP), University of Coimbra, P-3004 516 Coimbra, Portugal
  • 19University of Liverpool, Department of Physics, Liverpool L69 7ZE, United Kingdom
  • 20Pennsylvania State University, Department of Physics, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802-6300, USA
  • 21Royal Holloway, University of London, Department of Physics, Egham, TW20 0EX, United Kingdom
  • 22South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, Rapid City, South Dakota 57701-3901, USA
  • 23University of Rochester, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Rochester, New York 14627-0171, USA
  • 24South Dakota Science and Technology Authority (SDSTA), Sanford Underground Research Facility, Lead, South Dakota 57754-1700, USA
  • 25Northwestern University, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Evanston, Illinois 60208-3112, USA
  • 26Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (FNAL), Batavia, Illinois 60510-5011, USA
  • 27University of Oxford, Department of Physics, Oxford OX1 3RH, United Kingdom
  • 28University of Bristol, H.H. Wills Physics Laboratory, Bristol, BS8 1TL, United Kingdom
  • 29The University of Sydney, School of Physics, Physics Road, Camperdown, Sydney, New South Wales 2006, Australia
  • 30Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), Upton, New York 11973-5000, USA
  • 31University of Massachusetts, Department of Physics, Amherst, Massachusetts 01003-9337, USA
  • 32University of Alabama, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Tuscaloosa, Alabama 34587-0324, USA
  • 33University of California, Los Angeles, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Los Angeles, California 90095-1547
  • 34IBS Center for Underground Physics (CUP), Yuseong-gu, Daejeon, Korea
  • 35University of Sheffield, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Sheffield S3 7RH, United Kingdom
  • 36University of Texas at Austin, Department of Physics, Austin, Texas 78712-1192, USA
  • 37Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Livermore, California 94550-9698, USA
  • 38Vatican Observatory, Castel Gandolfo, V-00120, Vatican City State
  • 39Black Hills State University, School of Natural Sciences, Spearfish, South Dakota 57799-0002, USA

  • *Contact author: aiham.almusalhi@ucl.ac.uk
  • †Contact author: mkannichankandy@albany.edu
  • ‡Contact author: xuyongheng@physics.ucla.edu
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Phys. Rev. Lett. 134, 241801 – Published 18 June, 2025

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/nr92-jvt3

Abstract

While dual-phase xenon time projection chambers have driven the sensitivity toward weakly interacting massive particles at the GeV/c2 to TeV/c2 mass scale, the scope for sub-GeV/c2 dark matter particles is hindered by a limited nuclear recoil energy detection threshold. One approach to probe for lighter candidates is to consider cases where they have been boosted by collisions with cosmic rays in the Milky Way, such that the additional kinetic energy lifts their induced signatures above the nominal threshold. In this Letter, we report first results of a search for cosmic ray-boosted dark matter (CRDM) with a combined 4.2  metric ton/yr exposure from the LUX-ZEPLIN experiment. We observe no excess above the expected backgrounds and establish world-leading constraints on the spin-independent CRDM-nucleon cross section as small as 3.9×10−33  cm2 at 90% confidence level for sub-GeV/c2 masses.

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Phys. Rev. Lett. 134, 241801– Published 18 June, 2025
  • Received 25 March 2025
  • Accepted 30 May 2025
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