1. Effective field theory analysis of the first LUX dark matter search
- Author
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Akerib, DS, Alsum, S, Araújo, HM, Bai, X, Balajthy, J, Baxter, A, Bernard, EP, Bernstein, A, Biesiadzinski, TP, Boulton, EM, Boxer, B, Brás, P, Burdin, S, Byram, D, Carmona-Benitez, MC, Chan, C, Cutter, JE, De Viveiros, L, Druszkiewicz, E, Fan, A, Fiorucci, S, Gaitskell, RJ, Ghag, C, Gilchriese, MGD, Gwilliam, C, Hall, CR, Haselschwardt, SJ, Hertel, SA, Hogan, DP, Horn, M, Huang, DQ, Ignarra, CM, Jacobsen, RG, Jahangir, O, Ji, W, Kamdin, K, Kazkaz, K, Khaitan, D, Korolkova, EV, Kravitz, S, Kudryavtsev, VA, Larsen, NA, Leason, E, Lenardo, BG, Lesko, KT, Liao, J, Lin, J, Lindote, A, Lopes, MI, Manalaysay, A, Mannino, RL, Marangou, N, McKinsey, DN, Mei, DM, Moongweluwan, M, Morad, JA, Murphy, ASJ, Naylor, A, Nehrkorn, C, Nelson, HN, Neves, F, Nilima, A, Oliver-Mallory, KC, Palladino, KJ, Pease, EK, Riffard, Q, Rischbieter, GRC, Rhyne, C, Rossiter, P, Shaw, S, Shutt, TA, Silva, C, Solmaz, M, Solovov, VN, Sorensen, P, Sumner, TJ, Szydagis, M, Taylor, DJ, Taylor, R, Taylor, WC, Tennyson, BP, Terman, PA, Tiedt, DR, To, WH, Tvrznikova, L, Utku, U, Uvarov, S, Vacheret, A, Velan, V, Webb, RC, White, JT, Whitis, TJ, Witherell, MS, Wolfs, FLH, Woodward, D, Xu, J, and Zhang, C
- Abstract
The Large Underground Xenon (LUX) dark matter search was a 250-kg active mass dual-phase time projection chamber that operated by detecting light and ionization signals from particles incident on a xenon target. In December 2015, LUX reported a minimum 90% upper C.L. of 6×10-46 cm2 on the spin-independent WIMP-nucleon elastic scattering cross section based on a 1.4×104 kg·day exposure in its first science run. Tension between experiments and the absence of a definitive positive detection suggest it would be prudent to search for WIMPs outside the standard spin-independent/spin-dependent paradigm. Recent theoretical work has identified a complete basis of 14 independent effective field theory (EFT) operators to describe WIMP-nucleon interactions. In addition to spin-independent and spin-dependent nuclear responses, these operators can produce novel responses such as angular-momentum-dependent and spin-orbit couplings. Here we report on a search for all 14 of these EFT couplings with data from LUX's first science run. Limits are placed on each coupling as a function of WIMP mass.
- Published
- 2021