First Dark Matter Results from the XENON100 Experiment

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SUMMARY

The XENON100 experiment, designed to detect dark matter WIMPs, reported null results after analyzing 11.17 live days of data, excluding spin-independent WIMP-nucleon elastic scattering cross-sections above 3 x 10^-44 cm² for 50 GeV/c² WIMPs at a 90% confidence level. This outcome constrains the parameter space for SUSY-neutralinos and GUT axions, raising questions about the implications for SUSY and string theory if non-detection continues. The findings challenge previous interpretations of signals from CoGeNT and DAMA experiments, particularly for light mass WIMP interactions.

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are null to 90%

If, as in searches for proton decay, the results continue to be null for experiments in the next several decades, as they have been for proton decay, at what point does the SUSY-neutralino space, or GUT axion, or other cold DM candidates, becomes constrained?

Obviously a positive result would be strong evidence for SUSY/strings.
SUSY helps the running coupling constants unify at 10^15 GEV, and the neutralino is stable, has the right mass and right predicted abundance after Big Bang
to account for DM.

The null result constrains the parameter space, but would the continued non-detection be a problem for XENON100 a problem for SUSY or string theory?

My intuition is that all searches for DM, proton decay, SUSY @ LHC, magnetic monopoles, axions, Lorentz-violating Gamma ray bursts, will continue to be null.

for a more detailed discussion

http://resonaances.blogspot.com/2010/05/more-dark-entries.html

original paper, arXiv:1005.0380

First Dark Matter Results from the XENON100 Experiment
Authors: E. Aprile, K. Arisaka, F. Arneodo, A. Askin, L. Baudis, A. Behrens, E. Brown, J. M. R. Cardoso, B. Choi, D. B. Cline, S. Fattori, A. D. Ferella, K.-L. Giboni, K. Hugenberg, A. Kish, C. W. Lam, J. Lamblin, R. F. Lang, K. E. Lim, J. A. M. Lopes, T. Marrodán Undagoitia, Y. Mei, A. J. Melgarejo Fernandez, K. Ni, U. Oberlack, S. E. A. Orrigo, E. Pantic, G. Plante, A. C. C. Ribeiro, R. Santorelli, J. M. F. dos Santos, M. Schumann, P. Shagin, A. Teymourian, D. Thers, E. Tziaferi, H. Wang, C. Weinheimer (XENON100 Collaboration)
(Submitted on 3 May 2010)

Abstract: The XENON100 experiment, in operation at the Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso in Italy, is designed to search for dark matter WIMPs scattering off 62 kg of liquid xenon in an ultra-low background dual-phase time projection chamber. In this letter, we present first dark matter results from the analysis of 11.17 live days of non-blind data, acquired in October and November 2009. In the selected fiducial target of 40 kg, and within the pre-defined signal region, we observe no events and hence exclude spin-independent WIMP-nucleon elastic scattering cross-sections above 3 x 10^-44 cm^2 for 50 GeV/c^2 WIMPs at 90% confidence level. Below 20 GeV/c^2, this result challenges the interpretation of the CoGeNT or DAMA signals as being due to spin-independent, elastic, light mass WIMP interactions.
 
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