# MiniBooNE-DM: a dark matter search in a proton beam dump

## TL;DR

The paper reports on a dark matter search using the MiniBooNE detector in a proton beam dump setup, demonstrating the potential of beam dump experiments to detect sub-GeV dark matter particles via elastic scattering.

## Contribution

It presents a novel application of the MiniBooNE detector in a beam dump configuration for dark matter detection, highlighting new analysis methods and future prospects.

## Key findings

- No dark matter signal observed, setting new limits on sub-GeV dark matter interactions.
- Demonstrates the feasibility of using neutrino detectors in beam dump experiments for dark matter searches.
- Shows that beam dump experiments are a promising approach for exploring light dark matter.

## Abstract

In a dedicated run where protons from the Fermilab Booster were delivered directly to the steel beam dump of the Booster Neutrino Beamline (BNB), the MiniBooNE detector was used to search for the production of sub-GeV dark matter particles via vector-boson mediators. The signal searched for was the elastic scattering of dark matter particles off nucleons in the detector mineral oil, with neutrinos being an irreducible background. A review of the experiment, its analysis methods, its results and future perspectives are summarized, demonstrating that beam dump experiments provide a novel and promising approach to dark matter searches. This contribution was written for the TAUP 2017 proceedings.