Astrophysics independent bounds on the annual modulation of dark matter signals

TL;DR

This paper presents a method to constrain the annual modulation signals in dark matter detection experiments using bounds from other experiments, with minimal assumptions about dark matter distribution.

Contribution

It introduces a novel astrophysics-independent approach to limit dark matter annual modulation signals based on existing non-modulation data.

Findings

DAMA/LIBRA modulation signal is excluded at 6.3sigma for isospin conserving interactions.

The method applies to various interaction types, including spin-dependent.

Constraints are derived assuming a 10 GeV dark matter particle.

Abstract

We show how constraints on the time integrated event rate from a given dark matter (DM) direct detection experiment can be used to set a stringent constraint on the amplitude of the annual modulation signal in another experiment. The method requires only very mild assumptions about the properties of the local DM distribution: that it is temporally stable on the scale of months and spatially homogeneous on the ecliptic. We apply the method to the annual modulation signal in DAMA/LIBRA, which we compare to the bounds derived from the constraints on the time-averaged rates from XENON10, XENON100, CDMS and SIMPLE. Assuming a DM mass of 10 GeV, we show that a DM interpretation of the DAMA/LIBRA signal is excluded at 6.3sigma (4.6sigma) for isospin conserving (violating) spin-independent interactions, and at 4.9sigma for spin-dependent interactions on protons.