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arXiv · 1808.02719

Constraints on millicharged particles with low threshold germanium detectors at Kuo-Sheng Reactor Neutrino Laboratory

Abstract

Relativistic millicharged particles ($\chi_q$) have been proposed in various extensions to the Standard Model of particle physics. We consider the scenarios where they are produced at nuclear reactor core and via interactions of cosmic-rays with the earth's atmosphere. Millicharged particles could also be candidates for dark matter, and become relativistic through acceleration by supernova explosion shock waves. The atomic ionization cross section of $\chi_q$ with matter are derived with the equivalent photon approximation. Smoking-gun signatures with significant enhancement in the differential cross section are identified. New limits on the mass and charge of $\chi_q$ are derived, using data taken with a point-contact germanium detector with 500g mass functioning at an energy threshold of 300~eV at the Kuo-Sheng Reactor Neutrino Laboratory.

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BibTeXRIS

TEXONO Collaboration, L. Singh, J. W. Chen, H. C. Chi, C. -P. Liu, M. K. Pandey, H. T. Wong, C. P. Wu, M. Agartioglu, M. Deniz, H. B. Li, S. T. Lin, V. Sharma, M. K. Singh, V. Singh, Q. Yue. 2018-08-08. Constraints on millicharged particles with low threshold germanium detectors at Kuo-Sheng Reactor Neutrino Laboratory. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevd.99.032009

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