Nuclear spin-dependent interactions: Searches for WIMP, Axion and Topological Defect Dark Matter, and Tests of Fundamental Symmetries

TL;DR

This paper refines nuclear spin calculations to better interpret experimental data, leading to improved constraints on dark matter interactions and fundamental symmetry violations, surpassing previous laboratory limits by significant margins.

Contribution

It introduces a hybrid ab initio/semi-empirical method for nuclear spin calculations and applies it to set new, tighter limits on dark matter interactions and symmetry-violating parameters.

Findings

Improved constraints on spin-dependent P,T-violating interactions.

Enhanced limits on CPT and Lorentz-invariance-violating parameters.

Demonstrated reduction of discrepancies in nuclear spin expectation values.

Abstract

We calculate the proton and neutron spin contributions for nuclei using semi-empirical methods, as well as a novel hybrid \emph{ab initio}/semi-empirical method, for interpretation of experimental data. We demonstrate that core-polarisation corrections to \emph{ab initio} nuclear shell model calculations generally reduce discrepancies in proton and neutron spin expectation values from different calculations. We derive constraints on the spin-dependent P,T-violating interaction of a bound proton with nucleons, which for certain ranges of exchanged pseudoscalar boson masses improve on the most stringent laboratory limits by several orders of magnitude. We derive a limit on the CPT and Lorentz-invariance-violating parameter $|\tilde{b}_{\perp}^p| < 7.6 \times 10^{-33}$ GeV, which improves on the most stringent existing limit by a factor of 8, and demonstrate sensitivities to the parameters $\tilde{d}_{\perp}^p$ and $\tilde{g}_{ D\perp}^p$ at the level $\sim 10^{-29} - 10^{-28}$ GeV, which is a one order of magnitude improvement compared to the corresponding existing sensitivities. We extend previous analysis of nuclear anapole moment data for Cs to obtain new limits on several other CPT and Lorentz-invariance-violating parameters: $\left|b_0^p \right| < 7 \times 10^{-8}$ GeV, $\left|d_{00}^p \right| < 8 \times 10^{-8}$, $\left|b_0^n \right| < 3 \times 10^{-7}$ GeV and $\left|d_{00}^n \right| < 3 \times 10^{-7}$.