Limits on the abundance of millicharged particles bound to matter
Gadi Afek, Fernando Monteiro, Jiaxiang Wang, Benjamin M. Siegel, Sumita Ghosh, David C. Moore
Abstract
Millicharged particles (mCPs) are hypothesized particles possessing an electric charge that is a fraction of the charge of the electron. We report a search for mCPs with charges $\ensuremath{\gtrsim}{10}^{\ensuremath{-}4}e$ that improves sensitivity to their abundance in matter by roughly two orders of magnitude relative to previous searches. This search is sensitive to such particles over a wide range of masses and charges for which they can form stable bound states with matter, corresponding to a gap in parameter space that is beyond the reach of previous searches from accelerators, colliders, cosmic-ray experiments, and cosmological constraints.
Topics & Concepts
PhysicsParameter spaceRange (aeronautics)Charge (physics)Particle physicsElectronDark matterSensitivity (control systems)Electric chargeAbundance (ecology)Upper and lower boundsSpace (punctuation)Cosmic rayCOSMIC cancer databaseAstrophysicsNuclear physicsQuantum mechanicsStatisticsMathematical analysisComposite materialPhilosophyMaterials scienceBiologyFisheryEngineeringMathematicsLinguisticsElectronic engineeringDark Matter and Cosmic PhenomenaAstrophysics and Cosmic PhenomenaParticle Detector Development and Performance