arXiv subjects

Yuanlin Gong

Publications and source records attributed to Yuanlin Gong.

9 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Hunting for Axions in REactor neutrino COherent scattering Detection Experiment

Nuclear power plants are not only vital sources of clean energy but also powerful facilities for probing new physics beyond the Standard Model. Due to the intense gamma-ray flux and an appropriate energy conditions, they are particularly well-suited for searches of light hypothetical particles such as sub-MeV axions and axion-like particles (ALPs). In this work, we propose to search for the ALPs in the REactor Neutrino COherent scattering Detection Experiment (RECODE), where two low-threshold, high-purity germanium detectors are placed at 11 m (near point) and 22 m (far point) from a 3.4 GW nuclear reactor at Sanmen nuclear power plant. With a 10 kg$\cdot$year exposure, we demonstrate that the expected sensitivities to the ALP couplings to the electrons and photons are competitive with or surpass the available results from the beam-dump experiments. A planned upgrade to 100 kg$\cdot$year will fully cover the so-called {$\it$ cosmological triangle} region, probing unexplored parameter space relevant to axions.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2026

Addressing position anomalies in the Strong Gravitational Lensing System HS~0810+2554 through Dark Matter Subhalos

Self-bounded dark matter (DM) subhalos are predicted to populate galactic halos in great abundance in the Cold Dark Matter (CDM) scenario. These substructures can leave observable imprints in strong gravitational lensing and have shown the ability to account for flux-ratio and position anomalies in multiply imaged systems. In this paper, we utilize the DM subhalos to address the image position anomalies of the two radio quads of HS 0810+2554 observed with the Very Long Baseline Interferometry. We model the lens using an elliptical power-law macro-lens supplemented by a population of CDM subhalos from numerical simulations and perform a dual-source reconstruction to fit all eight radio images simultaneously. We find that subhalos below $10^{6}M_\odot$ induce astrometric shifts smaller than the measurement uncertainties, whereas more massive subhalos naturally generate the required milliarcsecond perturbations without significantly altering the global lens configuration. Including CDM subhalos improves the fit from $χ^2=60.38$ for the pure macro-lens to $χ^2=1.61$. Our results show that the position anomalies of HS~0810+2554 can be explained within the CDM framework and do not by themselves necessarily require non-standard scenarios like fuzzy DM or angular complexity in the macro-lens. Instead, they provide a sharp and testable manifestation of the subhalo population predicted by CDM.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2026

Constraints on Axion-Like Particles with the Silicon Detector at a Nuclear Reactor

Axion and axion-like particles (ALPs), predicted in various extensions of the Standard Model, can be abundantly produced in nuclear reactors via the Primakoff process. In this work, we explore the detection of ALPs in silicon detectors through plasmon excitations. Owing to their relativistic nature, reactor-produced ALPs can efficiently excite plasmon resonances, while the accompanying energetic photon typically escapes from the thin detector without depositing an appreciable amount of energy. Utilizing the data from the Connie and Atucha-II experiments, we set the 90\% confidence level upper limits on the ALP-photon coupling $g_{aγγ}$ over the axion mass range $0.1-100$ keV. We further show that, for an exposure of 30 kg$\cdot$yr, the projected sensitivity of vIOLETA exceeds the current NEON limit by a factor of three in the same mass range. This improvement would expand the explored region of the QCD axion and ALP parameter space.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2026

Detecting light dark matter with prompt-delayed events in neutrino experiments

We demonstrate the prompt-delayed signals induced by knockout neutrons from the quasi-elastic scattering in neutrino experiments provides a new avenue for detecting light dark matter. As an illustration, we consider the detection of atmospheric dark matter in the liquid scintillator detectors. The results show that the constraint on the DM-nucleon interaction from KamLAND is approximately one order of magnitude more stringent than those obtained from the elastic nuclear recoil signals in dark matter direct detection experiments. Furthermore, a larger volume neutrino experiment, such as JUNO, is expected to significantly enhance the light dark matter detection sensitivity through the quasi-elastic scattering.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2026

Direct Detection of Leptophobic Dark Matter with Electronic Collective Excitations

Some new-generation dark matter detection experiments are primarily designed to search for the dark matter-electron interactions, but they can also be utilized to probe models in which dark matter couples exclusively to nucleon via the quantum effects. The hadronic loop-induced interactions can directly excite plasmons in semiconductors, thereby providing an additional channel for detecting the leptophobic dark matter. In this work, we investigate plasmon excitations in silicon detectors induced by boosted dark matter and cosmic-ray up-scattering dark matter via the hadronic loop process. By analyzing the available experimental data, we derive new exclusion limits on the leptophobic dark matter-nucleon scattering cross section in the sub-MeV mass range.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2026

Geomagnetic constraints on Millicharged Dark Matter

Millicharged particles are well-motivated dark matter candidates arising in many extensions of the Standard Model. We show that, despite their tiny coupling $e_m$ to photons, millicharged dark matter (mDM) in the Earth's geomagnetic field can generate a quasi-static, monochromatic magnetic signal with angular frequency twice the mDM mass. Using null results from the SuperMAG and SNIPE Hunt collaborations, we constrain the effective charge of bosonic mDM in the mass range $10^{-18}$--$10^{-14}\,\text{eV}$. The resulting upper bounds exceed stellar cooling constraints by over thirteen orders of magnitude, demonstrating the power of this method.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2025

Search for Ultralight Dark Matter with Quantum Magnetometry in the Earth's Cavity

Ultralight dark matter candidates, such as axions and dark photons, are leading dark matter candidates. They may couple feebly to photons, sourcing oscillating electromagnetic signals in the Earth's conducting cavity formed between the ground and the ionosphere, providing detectable magnetic field signatures at wavelengths above the Earth's size. We carry out a project aiming to search for new physics using an unshielded high-sensitivity atomic magnetometer, termed the Geomagnetic Probe for nEw physiCS (GPEX). In this work, we report our first search for axion and dark photon dark matter, conducted in the desert of XiaoDushan in Gansu Province, China. Analysis of the collection of one-hour data shows no robust evidence for axion- or dark photon-induced magnetic signals. Correspondingly, we set the constraints on the axion-photon coupling with $g_{aγγ} < 7\times10^{-10}\, \mathrm{GeV^{-1}}$ and the dark photon kinetic-mixing parameter $ε< 2\times10^{-6}$ in the mass range $3.5 \times 10^{-16}\, \mathrm{eV} \sim 1.8 \times 10^{-14}\, \mathrm{eV}$. Our findings demonstrate the feasibility of using ground-based quantum magnetic sensors for ultralight dark matter searches. Future networks of such detectors operating over extended periods could improve the sensitivity by about three orders of magnitude.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2025

Probing Millicharged Dark Matter with Magnetometer Coupled to Circuit

We present a novel approach to detect millicharged dark matter (mDM) by using a high-sensitivity magnetometer coupled with the resonant and broadband readout circuits. In the external magnetic field, the interaction between mDM and the photon field introduces an effective current corresponding to the mDMs annihilation into photons that produces a faint oscillating magnetic field signal, with a frequency uniquely determined by twice the mDM mass. By calculating the expected signal for two experimental configurations -- toroidal and solenoidal magnetic fields -- we show the potential to explore the uncharted regions of mDM parameter space. Our analysis establishes unprecedented constraints on the mDM coupling constant across the mass range $1\times 10^{-12}~\mathrm{eV}$ to $6 \times 10^{-8}~\mathrm{eV}$, surpassing existing experimental limits by more than ten orders of magnitude.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2024

Detecting Quadratically Coupled Ultra-light Dark Matter with Stimulated Annihilation

Ultra-light Dark Matter (ULDM) is one of the most promising DM candidates. Due to the Bose enhancement, we find the annihilation rate of the ULDM in the presence of background photon radiation can be greatly enhanced and produce a distinctive reflected electromagnetic wave with an angular frequency equal to the ULDM mass. We propose to utilize such stimulated annihilation to probe the ULDM with the electromagnetic quadratic coupling by emitting a beam of radio into space. With a power of 50 MW emitter, we forecast the sensitivity of quadratic coupling in different local halo models for low-frequency radio telescopes, such as LOFAR, UTR-2 and ngLOBO.

hep-ph↗