Search for fractionally charged particles with CUORE

TL;DR

CUORE, a large cryogenic detector array, conducted a search for fractionally charged particles using its first tonne-year exposure, setting new limits on their flux and demonstrating the potential of such detectors for new physics searches.

Contribution

This study is the first to use CUORE's large-scale cryogenic setup to search for fractionally charged particles, establishing new experimental limits and highlighting its sensitivity to exotic particles.

Findings

No excess FCP candidates observed, setting new flux limits.

Demonstrated CUORE's sensitivity to diverse signatures of new physics.

Established the potential of tonne-scale cryogenic detectors for rare particle searches.

Abstract

The Cryogenic Underground Observatory for Rare Events (CUORE) is a detector array comprised by 988 5$\;$cm$\times$5$\;$cm$\times$5$\;$cm TeO$_2$ crystals held below 20 mK, primarily searching for neutrinoless double-beta decay in $^{130}$Te. Unprecedented in size amongst cryogenic calorimetric experiments, CUORE provides a promising setting for the study of exotic through-going particles. Using the first tonne-year of CUORE's exposure, we perform a search for hypothesized fractionally charged particles (FCPs), which are well-motivated by various Standard Model extensions and would have suppressed interactions with matter. No excess of FCP candidate tracks is observed over background, setting leading limits on the underground FCP flux with charges between $e/24-e/5$ at 90\% confidence level. Using the low background environment and segmented geometry of CUORE, we establish the sensitivity of tonne-scale sub-Kelvin detectors to diverse signatures of new physics.