COSINE-100 full dataset challenges the annual modulation signal of DAMA/LIBRA.
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 40901955.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1126/sciadv.adv6503 and PMC identifier 12407068.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
For over 25 years, the DAMA/LIBRA collaboration has claimed to observe an annual modulation signal, suggesting the existence of dark matter interactions. However, no experiment using different target materials has observed a dark matter signal consistent with their result. To address this puzzle, the COSINE-100 collaboration conducted a model-independent test using sodium iodide crystal detectors, the same target material as DAMA/LIBRA. Analyzing data collected over 6.4 years by the effective mass of 61.3 kilograms, with improved energy calibration and time-dependent background modeling, we found no evidence of an annual modulation signal, challenging the DAMA/LIBRA result with a confidence level greater than 3σ. This finding represents a substantial step toward resolving the long-standing debate surrounding DAMA/LIBRA's dark matter claim, indicating that the observed modulation is unlikely to be caused by dark matter interactions.