DAMA/LIBRA annual modulation and Axion Quark Nugget Dark Matter Model

TL;DR

This paper proposes that the DAMA/LIBRA annual modulation signal could originate from neutrons emitted by Axion Quark Nuggets, offering an alternative to WIMP-based explanations and aligning with observed keV energy range data.

Contribution

It introduces a novel neutron-based explanation for DAMA/LIBRA's modulation using the AQN dark matter model, differing from traditional WIMP interpretations.

Findings

Modulation in keV energy range consistent with DAMA/LIBRA observations.

Neutrino spectral properties determine the keV energy scale of modulation.

Absence of modulation above 6 keV explained by neutrino energy cutoff.

Abstract

The DAMA/LIBRA experiment shows $9.5 \sigma$ evidence for an annual modulation in the $(1-6)~ {\rm keV}$ energy range, strongly suggesting that the observed modulation has the dark matter origin. However, the conventional interpretation in terms of WIMP-nucleon interaction is excluded by other experiments. We propose an alternative source of modulation in the form of neutrons, which have been liberated from surrounding material. Our computations are based on the so-called Axion Quark Nugget (AQN) dark matter model, which was originally invented long ago to explain the similarity between the dark and visible cosmological matter densities, i.e. $ \Omega_{\rm dark} \sim \Omega_{\rm visible}$. In our proposal the annual modulation is shown to be generated in keV energy range which is consistent with DL observation in $(1-6)~ {\rm keV}$ range. This keV energy scale in our proposal is mostly determined by spectral properties of the neutrinos emitted by the AQN dark matter particles, while the absence of the modulation with energies above 6 keV is explained by a sharp cutoff in the neutrino's energy spectrum at $\sim 15$ MeV. This proposal can be directly tested by COSINE-100, ANAIS-112, CYGNO and other similar experiments. It can be also tested by studying the correlations between the signals from these experiments and the signatures from drastically different detectors designed for studies of the infrasonic or seismic events using such instruments as Distributed Acoustic Sensing (DAS).