Search for an Ultralight Scalar Dark Matter Candidate with the AURIGA Detector

Antonio Branca, Michele Bonaldi, Massimo Cerdonio, Livia Conti, Paolo Falferi, Francesco Marin, Renato Mezzena, Antonello Ortolan, Giovanni A. Prodi, Luca Taffarello, Gabriele Vedovato, Andrea Vinante (+2 others)
2017 Physical Review Letters  
A search for a new scalar field, called moduli, has been performed using the cryogenic resonant-mass AURIGA detector. Predicted by string theory, moduli may provide a significant contribution to the dark matter (DM) component of our universe. If this is the case, the interaction of ordinary matter with the local DM moduli, forming the Galaxy halo, will cause an oscillation of solid bodies with a frequency corresponding to the mass of moduli. In the sensitive band of AURIGA, some 100 Hz at
more » ... 1 kHz, the expected signal, with a Q= ff∼10^6, is a narrow peak, f∼1 mHz. Here the detector strain sensitivity is h_s∼2×10^-21 Hz^-1/2, within a factor of 2. These numbers translate to upper limits at 95% C.L. on the moduli coupling to ordinary matter d_e≲10^-5 around masses m_ϕ=3.6·10^-12 eV, for the standard DM halo model with ρ_DM=0.3 GeV/cm^3.
doi:10.1103/physrevlett.118.021302 pmid:28128622 fatcat:746nvle7ezeunbenz2qi4e5rpa