New constraints on WIMPs from the Canfranc IGEX dark matter search
hep-ex
/ Authors
A. Morales, C. E. Aalseth, F. T. Avignone, R. L. Brodzinski, S. Cebrian, E. Garcia, D. Gonzalez, W. K. Hensley, I. G. Irastorza, I. V. Kirpichnikov
and 15 more authors
A. A. Klimenko, H. S. Miley, J. Morales, A. Ortiz de Solorzano, S. B. Osetrov, V. S. Pogosov, J. Puimedon, J. H. Reeves, M. L. Sarsa, S. Scopel, A. A. Smolnikov,
/ Abstract
The IGEX Collaboration enriched 76Ge double-beta decay detectors are currently operating in the Canfranc Underground Laboratory with an overburden of 2450 m.w.e. A recent upgrade has made it possible to use them in a search for WIMPs. A new exclusion plot has been derived for WIMP-nucleon spin-independent interaction. To obtain this result, 30 days of data from one IGEX detector, which has an energy threshold of ~4 keV, have been considered. These data improve the exclusion limits derived from other germanium diode experiments in the ~50 GeV DAMA region, and show that with a moderate improvement of the background below 10 keV, the DAMA region may be tested with an additional 1 kg-year of exposure.