Sensitivity Study for Low Mass Dark Matter Search at DUNE

Abstract

Many anomalies in the predictions of mass and gravity at the galactic scale have been attributed to an elusive form of matter we refer to as dark matter. The excessive rotational velocity of galaxies and gravitational lensing observed in the cosmos have not found any explanation within the standard model of physics. However, dark matter itself remains undetected as it seems to only interact with gravity. If it does interact with other forces, it has a minuscule cross section similarly to the neutrino particle. Many emerging theories hope to explain the mechanisms of production and interaction of dark matter and many future experiments hope to detect it. It is thought that the detection of dark matter will be more likely by producing boosted dark matter with the use of high energy particle accelerators, and since dark matter is also thought to interact similarly to the neutrino, the use of a neutrino detector also proves to be a good choice. These are all components of the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE) at Fermilab. This paper explores the possibility of detection in the low mass range of light dark matter at DUNE using electron elastic scatter events in the Near detector. We use computer simulations of dark matter and neutrinos produced in the experiment and their signals in the detector to set 90% confidence limits over the light dark matter parameter space.