Abstract
Self-interacting dark matter (SIDM) is a leading candidate proposed to solve discrepancies between predictions of the prevailing cold dark matter theory and observations of galaxies. Many SIDM models predict the existence of a light force carrier that mediates strong dark matter self-interactions. If the mediator couples to the standard model particles, it could produce characteristic signals in dark matter direct detection experiments. We report searches for signals of SIDM models with a light mediator using the full dataset of the PandaX-II experiment, basing on a total exposure of 132 tonne-days. No significant excess over background is found, and our likelihood analysis leads to a strong upper limit on the dark matter-nucleon coupling strength. We further combine the PandaX-II constraints and those from observations of the light element abundances in the early universe, and show that direct detection and cosmological probes can provide complementary constraints on dark matter models with a light mediator.
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This work was supported by a Double Top-class grant from Shanghai Jiao Tong University, and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 11875190). We thank the Office of Science and Technology, Shanghai Municipal Government and the Key Laboratory for Particle Physics, Astrophysics and Cosmology, Ministry of Education, for important support. This work was supported in part by the Chinese Academy of Sciences Center for Excellence in Particle Physics (CCEPP) and Hongwen Foundation in Hong Kong. Finally, we thank the China Jinping Underground Laboratory (CJPL) administration and the Yalong River Hydropower Development Company Ltd. for indispensable logistical support and other help. Hai-Bo Yu acknowledged support from the U.S. Department of Energy (Grant No. de-sc0008541), and the John Templeton Foundation (Grant No. #61884).
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Yang, J., Abdukerim, A., Chen, W. et al. Constraining self-interacting dark matter with the full dataset of PandaX-II. Sci. China Phys. Mech. Astron. 64, 111062 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11433-021-1740-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11433-021-1740-2