Dark Matter Constraints from Isomeric $^{\bf 178m}$Hf

Author:

D. S. M. Alves, S. R. Elliott, R. Massarczyk, S. J. Meijer, H. Ramani

Keyword:

Nuclear Experiment, Nuclear Experiment (nucl-ex), High Energy Physics - Phenomenology (hep-ph), High Energy Physics - Theory (hep-th)

journal:

date:

2023-06-06 16:00:00

Abstract

We describe a first measurement of the radiation from a $^{\bf 178m}$Hf sample to search for dark matter. The $\gamma$ flux from this sample, possessed by Los Alamos National Laboratory nuclear chemistry, was measured with a Ge detector at a distance of 4 ft due to its high activity. We search for $\gamma$s that cannot arise from the radioactive decay of $^{\bf 178m}$Hf, but might arise from the production of a nuclear state due to the inelastic scattering with dark matter. The limits obtained on this $\gamma$ flux are then translated into constraints on the parameter space of inelastic dark matter. Finally, we describe the potential reach of future studies with $^{\bf 178m}$Hf.

PDF: Dark Matter Constraints from Isomeric $^{\bf 178m}$Hf.pdf