Dark matter search in a Beam-Dump eXperiment (BDX) at Jefferson Lab -- 2018 update to PR12-16-001

The Beam Dump eXperiment (BDX) is a an electron-beam thick-target experiment aimed to investigate the existence of light Dark Matter particles in the MeV-GeV mass region at Jefferson Lab. The experiment will make use of a 10.6 GeV high-intensity electron-beam impinging on the Hall-A beam-dump to produce the Dark Matter particles ( χ ) through the Dark Photon portal. The BDX detector located at ∼20 m from the dump consists of two main components: an electromagnetic calorimeter to detect the signals produced by the χ -electron scattering and a veto system to reject background. The expected signature of the DM (Dark Matter) interaction in the Ecal (Electromagnetic calorimeter) is a ∼GeV electromagnetic shower paired with a null activity in the surrounding active veto counters. Collecting 10 22 electrons on target in 285 days of parasitic run at 65 μ A of beam current, and with an expected background of O(5) counts, in the case of a null discovery, BDX will be able to lower the exclusion limits by one to two orders of magnitude in the parameter space of dark-matter coupling versus mass. This paper describes the experiment and presents a summary of the most significant results achieved thus far, which led to the recent approval of the experiment by JLab-PAC46.

Download Full-text

Characterization of a CsI(Tl)-SiPM detector to low energy protons for light dark matter search in a future Beam Dump eXperiment

Journal of Instrumentation ◽

10.1088/1748-0221/12/03/c03009 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 12 (03) ◽

pp. C03009-C03009 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

M. Bondí ◽

M. Battaglieri ◽

M. Carpinelli ◽

A. Celentano ◽

M. De Napoli ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Dark Matter ◽

Low Energy ◽

Dark Matter Search ◽

Beam Dump

Download Full-text

Beam Purity for Light Dark Matter Search in Beam Dump Experiments

Advances in High Energy Physics ◽

10.1155/2015/105730 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 2015 ◽

pp. 1-6 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

D. Banerjee ◽

P. Crivelli ◽

A. Rubbia

Keyword(s):

Dark Matter ◽

Electron Beam ◽

Beam Line ◽

Test Beam ◽

Dark Matter Search ◽

Beam Dump ◽

Background Rejection ◽

Unexplored Area ◽

Simulation Results

This paper reviews the search for light dark matter in beam dump experiments with a special emphasis on the necessity of beam purity for precise background rejection at the sensitivities aimed at these experiments. As a case study we cite the P348 experiment which has test beam time in Fall 2015 at the SPS H4 beam line at CERN and aims to search for theU′(1)gauge boson,A′, which as per one model of dark matter mediates a weak interaction between ordinary matter and dark matter via mixing of these “dark photons” with ordinary photon. The experiment aims to probe the still unexplored area of mixing strength10-5≤ϵ≤10-3and massesMA′≤100 MeV by using 10–300 GeV electron beam from the CERN SPS. This paper presents the simulation results for rejection of background due to beam impurity, by tracking the incoming particles with Micromegas detectors at a level <10-10.

Download Full-text

Dark Matter Search in a Proton Beam Dump with MiniBooNE

Physical Review Letters ◽

10.1103/physrevlett.118.221803 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 118 (22) ◽

Cited By ~ 40

Author(s):

A. A. Aguilar-Arevalo ◽

M. Backfish ◽

A. Bashyal ◽

B. Batell ◽

B. C. Brown ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Dark Matter ◽

Proton Beam ◽

Dark Matter Search ◽

Beam Dump

Download Full-text

The BDX-MINI detector for Light Dark Matter search at JLab

The European Physical Journal C ◽

10.1140/epjc/s10052-021-08957-5 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 81 (2) ◽

Author(s):

M. Battaglieri ◽

P. Bisio ◽

M. Bondí ◽

A. Celentano ◽

P. L. Cole ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Dark Matter ◽

Mass Range ◽

Passive Layer ◽

Minimal Access ◽

Silicon Photomultipliers ◽

Dark Matter Search ◽

Beam Dump ◽

Beam Incident ◽

And Performance ◽

Electron Beam Incident

AbstractThis paper describes the design and performance of a compact detector, BDX-MINI, that incorporates all features of a concept that optimized the detection of light dark matter in the MeV-GeV mass range produced by electrons in a beam dump. It represents a reduced version of the future BDX experiment expected to run at JLAB. BDX-MINI was exposed to penetrating particles produced by a 2.176 GeV electron beam incident on the beam dump of Hall A at Jefferson Lab. The detector consists of 30.5 kg of PbWO$$_4$$ 4 crystals with sufficient material following the beam dump to eliminate all known particles except neutrinos. The crystals are read out using silicon photomultipliers. Completely surrounding the detector are a passive layer of tungsten and two active scintillator veto systems, which are also read out using silicon photomultipliers. The design was validated and the performance of the robust detector was shown to be stable during a six month period during which the detector was operated with minimal access.

Download Full-text