First direct detection constraints on Planck-scale mass dark matter with multiple-scatter signatures using the DEAP-3600 detector

TL;DR

This paper reports the first direct detection constraints on Planck-scale mass dark matter particles using the DEAP-3600 detector, focusing on multiple-scatter signatures over 813 days of data.

Contribution

It provides the first experimental limits on supermassive dark matter particles with masses up to the Planck scale, using a novel multiple-scatter search method.

Findings

No candidate events observed for supermassive dark matter.

Constraints set on dark matter masses from 8.3 million to 1.2 quintillion GeV/c^2.

Limits on scattering cross sections between 1.0×10^{-23} and 2.4×10^{-18} cm^2.

Abstract

Dark matter particles with Planck-scale mass ($\simeq10^{19}\text{GeV}/c^2$) arise in well-motivated theories and could be produced by several cosmological mechanisms. Using a blind analysis of data collected over a 813 d live time with DEAP-3600, a 3.3 t single-phase liquid argon-based dark matter experiment at SNOLAB, a search for supermassive dark matter was performed, looking for multiple-scatter signals. No candidate signal events were observed, leading to the first direct detection constraints on Planck-scale mass dark matter. Leading limits constrain dark matter masses between $8.3\times10^{6}$ and $1.2\times10^{19} \text{GeV}/c^2$, and cross sections for scattering on $^{40}$Ar between $1.0\times10^{-23}$ and $2.4\times10^{-18} \text{cm}^2$. These are used to constrain two composite dark matter models.