0000000000008678
AUTHOR
Benjamin Roberts
showing 8 related works from this author
Limiting P-odd interactions of cosmic fields with electrons, protons and neutrons
2014
We propose methods for extracting limits on the strength of P-odd interactions of pseudoscalar and pseudovector cosmic fields with electrons, protons and neutrons. Candidates for such fields are dark matter (including axions) and dark energy, as well as several more exotic sources described by standard-model extensions. Calculations of parity nonconserving amplitudes and atomic electric dipole moments induced by these fields are performed for H, Li, Na, K, Rb, Cs, Ba+, Tl, Dy, Fr, and Ra+. From these calculations and existing measurements in Dy, Cs and Tl, we constrain the interaction strengths of the parity-violating static pseudovector cosmic field to be 7*10^(-15) GeV with an electron, a…
Dark matter scattering on electrons: Accurate calculations of atomic excitations and implications for the DAMA signal
2016
We revisit the WIMP-type dark matter scattering on electrons that results in atomic ionization and can manifest itself in a variety of existing direct-detection experiments. Unlike the WIMP-nucleon scattering, where current experiments probe typical interaction strengths much smaller than the Fermi constant, the scattering on electrons requires a much stronger interaction to be detectable, which in turn requires new light force carriers. We account for such new forces explicitly, by introducing a mediator particle with scalar or vector couplings to dark matter and to electrons. We then perform state-of-the-art numerical calculations of atomic ionization relevant to the existing experiments.…
Comment on "Axion induced oscillating electric dipole moments"
2017
In the recent work [Phys. Rev. D 91, 111702(R) (2015)], C. Hill concludes that the axion electromagnetic anomaly induces an oscillating electron electric dipole moment of frequency $m_a$ and strength $\sim 10^{-32}~e$ cm, in the limit $v/c \to 0$ for the axion field. Here, we demonstrate that a proper treatment of this problem in the lowest order yields $\textit{no}$ electric dipole moment of the electron in the same limit. Instead, oscillating electric dipole moments of atoms and molecules are produced by different mechanisms.
Electron-interacting dark matter: Implications from DAMA/LIBRA-phase2 and prospects for liquid xenon detectors and NaI detectors
2019
We investigate the possibility for the direct detection of low-mass (GeV scale) weakly interacting massive particles (WIMP) dark matter in scintillation experiments. Such WIMPs are typically too light to leave appreciable nuclear recoils but may be detected via their scattering off atomic electrons. In particular, the DAMA Collaboration [R. Bernabei et al., Nucl. Phys. At. Energy 19, 307 (2018)] has recently presented strong evidence of an annual modulation in the scintillation rate observed at energies as low as 1 keV. Despite a strong enhancement in the calculated event rate at low energies, we find that an interpretation in terms of electron-interacting WIMPs cannot be consistent with ex…
The Walking Dead: Cross-Channel connections and Funerary Practices c. 1600-1200 BC
2018
Session XXXII-4. Cross-channel connections from the Neolithic to the Bronze Age; International audience; The Middle /early Late Bronze Age (c. 1600-1200 BC) in the cross-channel region is invariably understood through the many close connections evidenced by new metal technologies and object types. These relationships tend to be interpreted as either continuities or developments from Early Bronze Age (c. 2200-1600 BC) cross-channel communities. However, whilst scholarship on the cross-channel connections between Early Bronze Age communities has tended to focus on funerary practices, there been no recent or comparable re-evaluation of cross-channel Middle /Late Bronze Age funerary practices. …
Parity-violating interactions of cosmic fields with atoms, molecules, and nuclei: Concepts and calculations for laboratory searches and extracting li…
2014
We propose methods and present calculations that can be used to search for evidence of cosmic fields by investigating the parity-violating effects, including parity nonconservation amplitudes and electric dipole moments, that they induce in atoms. The results are used to constrain important fundamental parameters describing the strength of the interaction of various cosmic fields with electrons, protons, and neutrons. Candidates for such fields are dark matter (including axions) and dark energy, as well as several more exotic sources described by standard-model extensions. Existing parity nonconservation experiments in Cs, Dy, Yb, and Tl are combined with our calculations to directly place …
New Atomic Methods for Dark Matter Detection
2015
We calculate the parity and time-reversal violating effects that are induced in atoms, nuclei, and molecules by their interaction with various background cosmic fields, such as axion dark matter or dark energy.
Ionization of atoms by slow heavy particles, including dark matter
2016
Atoms and molecules can become ionized during the scattering of a slow, heavy particle off a bound electron. Such an interaction involving leptophilic weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs) is a promising possible explanation for the anomalous 9 sigma annual modulation in the DAMA dark matter direct detection experiment [R. Bernabei et al., Eur. Phys. J. C 73, 2648 (2013)]. We demonstrate the applicability of the Born approximation for such an interaction by showing its equivalence to the semiclassical adiabatic treatment of atomic ionization by slow-moving WIMPs. Conventional wisdom has it that the ionization probability for such a process should be exponentially small. We show, howe…