Extending the CRESST-II commissioning run limits to lower masses

TL;DR

This paper extends previous limits on light WIMP dark matter particles by analyzing CRESST-II data to lower masses, incorporating oxygen and calcium recoils to improve sensitivity down to 5 GeV.

Contribution

It presents a novel analysis extending WIMP-nucleon cross-section limits to lower masses using existing CRESST-II data, including oxygen and calcium recoil contributions.

Findings

Limits extended down to 5 GeV WIMP mass.

Inclusion of oxygen and calcium recoils improves sensitivity.

New constraints on light WIMP cross sections.

Abstract

Motivated by the recent interest in light WIMPs of mass ~O(10 GeV), an extension of the elastic, spin-independent WIMP-nucleon cross-section limits resulting from the CRESST-II commissioning run (2007) are presented. Previously, these data were used to set cross-section limits from 1000 GeV down to ~17 GeV, using tungsten recoils, in 47.9 kg-days of exposure of calcium tungstate. Here, the overlap of the oxygen and calcium bands with the acceptance region of the commissioning run data set is reconstructed using previously published quenching factors. The resulting elastic WIMP cross section limits, accounting for the additional exposure of oxygen and calcium, are presented down to 5 GeV.