The DAMA/Libra experiment has recently confirmed the annual modulation signal obtained in the earlier DAMA/NaI experiment, providing strong evidence that they have actually detected dark matter. We examine the implications of this experiment for the mirror dark matter candidate. We show that mirror dark matter successfully explains the latest DAMA/Libra data, whilst also being consistent with the null results of other direct detection experiments.
The DAMA collaboration reported an annually modulated rate with a phase compatible with a Dark Matter induced signal. We point out that a slowly varying rate can bias or even simulate an annual modulation if data are analyzed in terms of residuals computed by subtracting approximately yearly averages starting from a fixed date, rather than a background continuous in time. In the most extreme case, the amplitude and phase of the annual modulation reported by DAMA could be alternatively interpreted as a decennial growth of the rate. This possibility appears mildly disfavoured by a detailed study…
In a recent paper [arXiv:2002.00459], Buttazzo et al. show how the annually modulated rate of the DAMA experiments can be possibly interpreted as an artefact due to the interplay between a time-dependent background and the method to account for it. In this work, we compare this hypothesis against the sinusoidal dark matter signal as proposed by the DAMA collaboration. We produce in a Bayesian approach a quantitative comparison of how much the experimental observations are in support of each hypothesis. Our conclusions are that the odds against the hypothesis of a time varying background being …
We implement a test of the variability of the per-cycle annual modulation amplitude in the different phases of the DAMA/LIBRA experiment using Bayesian model comparison. Using frequentist methods, a previous study (Kelso et al 2018) had demonstrated that the DAMA amplitudes spanning over the DAMA/NaI and the first phase of the DAMA/LIBRA phases, show a mild preference for time-dependence in multiple energy bins. With that motivation, we first show using Bayesian techniques that the aforementioned data analyzed in Kelso et al, show a moderate preference for exponentially varying amplitudes in t…
The current paradigm for dark matter direct detection is to assume that the dark sector is solely composed of a single particle species. In this short paper, we make the observation that dark matter comprising both a light and a heavy component that modulate out of phase leads to interesting phenomenology in annual modulation experiments. For an illustrative example, we use the recently released DAMA/LIBRA phase-2 results with a lower energy threshold. Immediately after, it was argued that a one-component spin-independent dark matter explanation of the observed annual modulation is strongly di…
We re-examine the case of anapole dark matter as an explanation for the DAMA annual modulation in light of the DAMA/LIBRA-phase2 results and improved upper limits from other DM searches. If the WIMP velocity distribution is assumed to be a Maxwellian, anapole dark matter is unable to provide an explanation of the DAMA modulation compatible with the other searches. Nevertheless, anapole dark matter provides a better fit to the DAMA-phase2 modulation data than an isoscalar spin-independent interaction, due to its magnetic coupling with sodium targets. A halo-independent analysis shows that expla…
We show that the Weakly Interacting Massive Particle scenario of proton-philic spin-dependent inelastic Dark Matter (pSIDM) can still provide a viable explanation of the observed DAMA modulation amplitude in compliance with the constraints from other experiments after the release of the DAMA/LIBRA-phase2 data and including the recent bound from COSINE-100, that uses the same $NaI$ target of DAMA. The pSIDM scenario provided a viable explanation of DAMA/LIBRA--phase1 both for a Maxwellian WIMP velocity distribution and in a halo-independent approach. At variance with DAMA/LIBRA-phase1, for whic…
Several of the many proposed Dark Matter candidate particles, already investigated with lower exposure and a higher software energy threshold, are further analyzed including the first DAMA/LIBRA--phase2 data release, with an exposure of 1.13 ton $\times$ yr and a lower software energy threshold (1 keV). The cumulative exposure above 2 keV considering also DAMA/NaI and DAMA/LIBRA--phase1 results is now 2.46 ton $\times$ yr. The analysis permits to constraint the parameters' space of the considered candidates restricting their values -- with respect to previous analyses -- thanks to the increase…
We analyze the DAMA/Libra-phase2 modulation result using a basis of 16 effective operators describing the WIMP interaction with photons, gluons and quarks up to mass dimension seven. For each operator we fix the effective theory at the scale of 2 GeV and parametrize WIMP-quark interactions in terms of two independent couplings for up-type and down-type quarks. We discuss the connection with the non-relativistic limit of the effective theory in terms of operators invariant by Galilean transformations, and the impact of the ensuing momentum-dependent Wilson coefficients due to long-range interac…
The long-standing model-independent annual modulation effect measured by DAMA deep underground at Gran Sasso Laboratory with different experimental configurations is summarized and perspectives will be highlighted. DAMA/LIBRA-phase2 set-up, $\simeq$ 250 kg highly radio-pure NaI(Tl) confirms the evidence of a signal that meets all the requirements of the model independent Dark Matter annual modulation signature at high C.L.; the full exposure is 2.86 ton $\times$ yr over 22 annual cycles. The experiment is currently collecting data in the DAMA/LIBRA-phase2 empowered configuration with an even l…
The DAMA/LIBRA experiment shows $9.5 σ$ evidence for an annual modulation in the $(1-6)~ {\rm keV}$ energy range, strongly suggesting that the observed modulation has the dark matter origin. However, the conventional interpretation in terms of WIMP-nucleon interaction is excluded by other experiments. We propose an alternative source of modulation in the form of neutrons, which have been liberated from surrounding material. Our computations are based on the so-called Axion Quark Nugget (AQN) dark matter model, which was originally invented long ago to explain the similarity between the dark an…
We evaluate the statistical significance of the DAMA/LIBRA claims for annual modulation using three independent model comparison techniques, viz frequentist, information theory, and Bayesian analysis. We fit the data from the DAMA/LIBRA experiment to both cosine and a constant model, and carry out model comparison by choosing the constant model as the null hypothesis. For the frequentist test, we invoke Wilk's theorem and calculate the significance using $Δχ^2$ between the two models. For information theoretical tests, we calculate the difference in Akaike Information Criterion (AIC) and Bayes…
Experimental observations and theoretical arguments point out that Dark Matter (DM) particles are one of the most prominent component of the Universe. This motivated the pioneer DAMA experiment to investigate the presence of these particles in the galactic halo, by exploiting the model independent signature of the DM annual modulation of the rate and very highly radio-pure apparatus in underground site. In this paper the results obtained by other two annual cycles of DAMA/LIBRA-phase2 are presented and the long-standing model-independent annual modulation effect measured by DAMA deep undergrou…
Recently, the DAMA/LIBRA collaboration released updated results from their search for the annual modulation signal from Dark Matter (DM) scattering in the detector. Besides approximately doubling the exposure of the DAMA/LIBRA data set, the updated photomultiplier tubes of the experiment allow a lower recoil energy threshold of 1\,keV electron equivalent compared to the previous threshold of 2 keV electron equivalent. We study the compatibility of the observed modulation signal with DM scattering. Due to a conspiracy of multiple effects, the new data at low recoil energies is very powerful for…
We show that models of strongly interacting (SIMP) dark matter built to reproduce the DAMA signal actually cannot account for its time dependence. We discuss the constraints on this type of models coming from direct detection experiments and study the propagation of thermalised dark matter particles in the ground for the allowed values of the parameters. We consider a simple 1D diffusion and a more detailed 3D diffusion. In both cases the predicted signal has either the wrong phase of the annual modulation or a much larger amplitude of the diurnal modulation.
Measurements from the Gaia satellite have greatly increased our knowledge of the dark matter velocity distributions in the Solar neighborhood. There is evidence for multiple cold structures nearby, including a high-velocity stream counterrotating relative to the Sun. This stream could significantly alter the spectrum of recoil energies and increase the annual modulation of dark matter in direct detection experiments such as DAMA/Libra. We reanalyze the experimental limits from Xenon1T, CDMSlite, PICO-60 and COSINE-100, and compare them to the results of the DAMA/Libra experiment. While we find…
We investigate the possibility for the direct detection of low mass (GeV scale) WIMP dark matter in scintillation experiments. Such WIMPs are typically too light to leave appreciable nuclear recoils, but may be detected via their scattering off atomic electrons. In particular, the DAMA Collaboration [R. Bernabei et al., Nucl. Phys. At. Energy 19, 307 (2018)] has recently presented strong evidence of an annual modulation in the scintillation rate observed at energies as low as 1 keV. Despite a strong enhancement in the calculated event rate at low energies, we find that an interpretation in ter…
Assuming a standard Maxwellian for the WIMP velocity distribution, we obtain the bounds from null WIMP search results of 59.5 days of COSINE-100 data on the DAMA/LIBRA-phase2 modulation effect within the context of the non-relativistic effective theory of WIMP-nucleus scattering. Here, we systematically assume that one of the effective operators allowed by Galilean invariance dominates in the effective Hamiltonian of a spin-1/2 dark matter (DM) particle. We find that, although DAMA/LIBRA and COSINE-100 use the same sodium-iodide target, the comparison of the two results still depends on the pa…
The first model independent results obtained by the DAMA/LIBRA-phase2 experiment are presented. The data have been collected over 6 annual cycles corresponding to a total exposure of 1.13 ton $\times$ yr, deep underground at the Gran Sasso National Laboratory (LNGS) of the I.N.F.N. The DAMA/LIBRA-phase2 apparatus, $\simeq$ 250 kg highly radio-pure NaI(Tl), profits from a second generation high quantum efficiency photomultipliers and of new electronics with respect to DAMA/LIBRA-phase1. The improved experimental configuration has also allowed to lower the software energy threshold. New data ana…
DAMA/LIBRA-阶段1和之前的DAMA/NaI数据（累积暴露量为1.33吨$\times$/年，对应于14个年度周期）提供了9.3 $σ$ C. L的证据。利用高放纯NaI（Tl）靶，在已开发的与模型无关的暗物质年调制特征的基础上，对星系晕中是否存在暗物质粒子进行了研究。结果和比较将很快得到解决，以及目前正在运行的DAMA/LIBRA-phase 2的前景。最后，在本研讨会的讨论部分中提出的一些论点在附录中提到。
我们进行了一个时间序列分析的组合数据从三个实验测量宇宙μ介子通量在Gran Sasso实验室，在深度为3800 m. w. e。这些数据由MACRO，LVD和Borexino实验获得，跨越了20多年的时间，对应于海平面上阈值能量约为1.3 TeV的μ子。我们比较最适合的时期和相位的完整μ子数据集与DAMA/NaI和DAMA/LIBRA数据相结合，跨越相同的时间段，作为宇宙射线μ子通量是负责DAMA检测到的年度调制的假设的检验。我们发现在μ子数据的周期约为一年的大幅度波动，和一个阶段，这是不兼容的DAMA调制在5.2西格玛。除了这种年度变化，μ子数据还包含了一个更显著的调制，周期在10到11年之间，功率远高于99.9% C.L噪声阈值，其相位与太阳周期相对应：对于如此高能量的μ子来说，这是一个令人惊讶的观察结果。我们在平流层温度数据中没有看到相应的长周期振荡。
Particle Physics Implications for CoGeNT, DAMA, and Fermi
最近CoGeNT合作的结果（以及DAMA/LIBRA报告的年度调制）指向暗物质，其质量较轻（5-10 GeV），与核子的弹性散射截面相对较大（σ~ 10^{-40} cm ^2）。为了拥有这个截面，暗物质必须通过小质量和/或大耦合的中介粒子与标准模型通信。在这封信中，我们探索与模型无关的方法的粒子物理方案，可能会容纳这些信号。我们还讨论了如何这样的模型可以产生从费米伽马射线空间望远镜的数据中观察到的银河系中心的伽马射线。我们发现了多个粒子物理场景，其中每个信号都可以解释，并且暗物质可以在早期宇宙中以热的方式产生，其丰度等于测量的宇宙学密度。
We perform an independent search for annual modulation caused by dark matter-induced scatterings in the recently released COSINE-100 data. We test the hypothesis that the data contains a sinusoidal modulation against the null hypothesis that the data consists of only background. We compare the significance using frequentist, information theoretic techniques (such as AIC and BIC), and also using the Bayesian model comparison technique. The information theory-based tests mildly prefer a constant background over a sinusoidal signal with the same period as that found by the DAMA collaboration. The…
Observations of galaxies and primordial radiation suggest that the Universe is made mostly of non-luminous dark matter. Several types of new fundamental particles have been proposed as candidates for dark matter such as weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs) but no definitive signal has been seen despite concerted efforts by many collaborations. One exception is the much-debated claim by the DAMA collaboration of a statistically significant annual modulation in the event rate of their experiment with a period and phase consistent with that expected from WIMP dark matter. Several groups h…
We perform an independent search for sinusoidal-based modulation in the recently released ANAIS-112 data, which could be induced by dark matter scatterings. We then evaluate this hypothesis against the null hypothesis that the data contains only background, using four different model comparison techniques. These include frequentist, Bayesian, and two information theory-based criteria (AIC and BIC). This analysis was done on both the residual data (by subtracting the exponential fit obtained from the ANAIS-112 Collaboration) as well as the total (non-background subtracted) data. We find that ac…
