First results on the scalar WIMP-pion coupling, using the XENON1T experiment

Aprile, E.; Aalbers, J.; Agostini, F.; Alfonsi, M.; Althueser, L.; Amaro, F. D.; Anthony, M.; Antochi, V. C.; Arneodo, F.; Baudis, L.; Bauermeister, B.; Benabderrahmane, M. L.; Berger, T.; Breur, P. A.; Brown, A.; Brown, A.; Brown, E.; Bruenner, S.; Bruno, G.; Budnik, R.; Capelli, C.; Cardoso, J. M. R.; Cichon, D.; Coderre, D.; Colijn, A. P.; Conrad, J.; Cussonneau, J. P.; Decowski, M. P.; De Perio, P.; Di Gangi, P.; Di Giovanni, A.; Diglio, S.; Elykov, A.; Eurin, G.; Fei, J.; Ferella, A. D.; Fieguth, A.; Fulgione, W.; Gallo Rosso, A.; Galloway, M.; Gao, F.; Garbini, M.; Grandi, L.; Greene, Z.; Hasterok, C.; Hogenbirk, E.; Howlett, J.; Iacovacci, M.; Itay, R.; Joerg, F.; Kaminsky, B.; Kazama, S.; Kish, A.; Koltman, G.; Kopec, A.; Landsman, H.; Lang, R. F.; Levinson, L.; Lin, Q.; Lindemann, S.; Lindner, M.; Lombardi, F.; Lopes, J. A. M.; López Fune, E.; Macolino, C.; Mahlstedt, J.; Manfredini, A.; Marignetti, F.; Marrodán Undagoitia, T.; Masbou, J.; Masson, D.; Mastroianni, S.; Messina, M.; Micheneau, K.; Miller, K.; Molinario, A.; Morå, K.; Murra, M.; Naganoma, J.; Ni, K.; Oberlack, U.; Odgers, K.; Pelssers, B.; Piastra, F.; Pienaar, J.; Pizzella, V.; Plante, G.; Podviianiuk, R.; Priel, N.; Qiu, H.; Ramírez García, D.; Reichard, S.; Riedel, B.; Rizzo, A.; Rocchetti, A.; Rupp, N.; Dos Santos, J. M. F.; Sartorelli, G.; Šarčević, N.; Scheibelhut, M.; Schindler, S.; Schreiner, J.; Schulte, D.; Schumann, M.; Scotto Lavina, L.; Selvi, M.; Shagin, P.; Shockley, E.; Silva, M.; Simgen, H.; Therreau, C.; Thers, D.; Toschi, F.; Trinchero, G.; Tunnell, C.; Upole, N.; Vargas, M.; Wack, O.; Wang, H.; Wang, Z.; Wei, Y.; Weinheimer, C.; Wenz, D.; Wittweg, C.; Wulf, J.; Ye, J.; Zhang, Y.; Zhu, T.; Zopounidis, J. P.; Hoferichter, M.; Klos, P.; Menéndez, J.; Schwenk, A.

doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.122.071301

We present first results on the scalar coupling of weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs) to pions from 1 t×yr of exposure with the XENON1T experiment. This interaction is generated when the WIMP couples to a virtual pion exchanged between the nucleons in a nucleus. In contrast to most nonrelativistic operators, these pion-exchange currents can be coherently enhanced by the total number of nucleons and therefore may dominate in scenarios where spin-independent WIMP-nucleon interactions are suppressed. Moreover, for natural values of the couplings, they dominate over the spin-dependent channel due to their coherence in the nucleus. Using the signal model of this new WIMP-pion channel, no significant excess is found, leading to an upper limit cross section of 6.4 ×10⁻⁴⁶ cm² (90% confidence level) at 30 GeV/c² WIMP mass.

First results on the scalar WIMP-pion coupling, using the XENON1T experiment / Aprile, E., Aalbers, J., Agostini, F., Alfonsi, M., Althueser, L., Amaro, F.D., Anthony, M., Antochi, V.C., Arneodo, F., Baudis, L., Bauermeister, B., Benabderrahmane, M.L., Berger, T., Breur, P.A., Brown, A., Brown, A., Brown, E., Bruenner, S., Bruno, G., Budnik, R., et al.. - In: PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS. - ISSN 0031-9007. - 122:7(2019), pp. 1-7. [10.1103/PhysRevLett.122.071301]