First results on low-mass dark matter from the CRESST-III experiment

TL;DR

The CRESST-III experiment advances the search for low-mass dark matter particles using cryogenic CaWO4 detectors, achieving unprecedented sensitivity and providing preliminary results that extend the exploration of sub-GeV/c^2 dark matter.

Contribution

This paper presents the first results from the CRESST-III experiment, demonstrating detector improvements and initial findings in the low-mass dark matter search.

Findings

Enhanced detector sensitivity for low-mass dark matter

Preliminary results extending the search to sub-GeV/c^2 mass range

Potential for future discoveries in low-mass dark matter detection

Abstract

The CRESST experiment, located at Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso in Italy, searches for dark matter particles via their elastic scattering off nuclei in a target material. The CRESST target consists of scintillating CaWO$_4$ crystals, which are operated as cryogenic calorimeters at millikelvin temperatures. Each interaction in the CaWO$_4$ target crystal produces a phonon signal and a light signal that is measured by a second cryogenic calorimeter. Since the CRESST-II result in 2015, the experiment is leading the field of direct dark matter search for dark matter masses below 1.7\,GeV/$c^2$, extending the reach of direct searches to the sub-GeV/$c^2$ mass region. For CRESST-III, whose Phase 1 started in July 2016, detectors have been optimized to reach the performance required to further probe the low-mass region with unprecedented sensitivity. In this contribution the achievements of the CRESST-III detectors will be discussed together with preliminary results and perspectives of Phase 1.