Etching Plastic Searches for Dark Matter

TL;DR

This paper revisits and refines limits on heavy dark matter particles using plastic track detectors from Skylab and Ohya, incorporating detailed modeling to improve sensitivity and exclude a wide mass range.

Contribution

It introduces a comprehensive analysis of plastic detector data with improved modeling, significantly tightening constraints on heavy dark matter.

Findings

Skylab data bounds are reduced by considering geometry and velocity distribution.

Ohya data excludes dark matter masses up to the Planck scale.

Refined analysis enhances the sensitivity of plastic detectors for dark matter searches.

Abstract

Large panels of etched plastic, situated aboard the Skylab Space Station and inside the Ohya quarry near Tokyo, have been used to set limits on fluxes of cosmogenic particles. These plastic particle track detectors also provide the best sensitivity for some heavy dark matter that interacts strongly with nuclei. We revisit prior dark matter bounds from Skylab, and incorporate geometry-dependent thresholds, a halo velocity distribution, and a complete accounting of observed through-going particle fluxes. These considerations reduce the Skylab bound's mass range by a few orders of magnitude. However, a new analysis of Ohya data covers a portion of the prior Skylab bound, and excludes dark matter masses up to the Planck mass. Prospects for future etched plastic dark matter searches are discussed.