Light Dark Matter Search with 7.8 Tonne-Year of Ionization-Only Data in XENONnT

@article{aprile2026light,
  title = {{Light Dark Matter Search with 7.8 Tonne-Year of Ionization-Only Data in XENONnT}},
  author = {Elena Aprile and J. Aalbers and K. Abe and M. Adrover and S. Ahmed Maouloud and L. Althueser and B. Andrieu and Emanuele Angelino and D. Antón Martin and S. R. Armbruster and F. Arneodo and L. Baudis and M. Bazyk and V. Beligotti and L. Bellagamba and R. Biondi and Alexander Bismark and K Boese and R. M. Braun and G. Bruni and Gianmarco Bruno and R. Budnik and C. Cai and C. Capelli and J. M. R. Cardoso and A. P. Cimental Chávez and A. P. Colijn and J. Conrad and J. J. Cuenca-García and Valerio D’Andrea and L. C. Daniel Garcia and M. P. Decowski and A. Deisting and C Di Donato and P. Di Gangi and S. Diglio and K. Eitel and S. el Morabit and R Elleboro and A. Elykov and Alfredo Davide Ferella and Carlo Ferrari and H. Fischer and T Flehmke and M. Flierman and R. Frankel and D. Fuchs and Walter Fulgione and Carlo Fuselli and F. Gao and R Giacomobono and F. Girard and R. Glade-Beucke and L. Grandi and J. Grigat and H. Guan and M. Guida and P Gyorgy and R. Hammann and C. Hils},
  journal = {Physical Review Letters},
  year = {2026},
  month = jun,
  doi = {10.1103/2lrq-f6bk},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1103/2lrq-f6bk},
  note = {CC BY},
}

TY  - JOUR
TI  - Light Dark Matter Search with 7.8 Tonne-Year of Ionization-Only Data in XENONnT
AU  - Elena Aprile
AU  - J. Aalbers
AU  - K. Abe
AU  - M. Adrover
AU  - S. Ahmed Maouloud
AU  - L. Althueser
AU  - B. Andrieu
AU  - Emanuele Angelino
AU  - D. Antón Martin
AU  - S. R. Armbruster
AU  - F. Arneodo
AU  - L. Baudis
AU  - M. Bazyk
AU  - V. Beligotti
AU  - L. Bellagamba
AU  - R. Biondi
AU  - Alexander Bismark
AU  - K Boese
AU  - R. M. Braun
AU  - G. Bruni
AU  - Gianmarco Bruno
AU  - R. Budnik
AU  - C. Cai
AU  - C. Capelli
AU  - J. M. R. Cardoso
AU  - A. P. Cimental Chávez
AU  - A. P. Colijn
AU  - J. Conrad
AU  - J. J. Cuenca-García
AU  - Valerio D’Andrea
AU  - L. C. Daniel Garcia
AU  - M. P. Decowski
AU  - A. Deisting
AU  - C Di Donato
AU  - P. Di Gangi
AU  - S. Diglio
AU  - K. Eitel
AU  - S. el Morabit
AU  - R Elleboro
AU  - A. Elykov
AU  - Alfredo Davide Ferella
AU  - Carlo Ferrari
AU  - H. Fischer
AU  - T Flehmke
AU  - M. Flierman
AU  - R. Frankel
AU  - D. Fuchs
AU  - Walter Fulgione
AU  - Carlo Fuselli
AU  - F. Gao
AU  - R Giacomobono
AU  - F. Girard
AU  - R. Glade-Beucke
AU  - L. Grandi
AU  - J. Grigat
AU  - H. Guan
AU  - M. Guida
AU  - P Gyorgy
AU  - R. Hammann
AU  - C. Hils
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/06/11
JO  - Physical Review Letters
DO  - 10.1103/2lrq-f6bk
UR  - https://doi.org/10.1103/2lrq-f6bk
AB  - We report on a blinded search for dark matter (DM) using ionization-only (S2-only) signals in XENONnT with a total exposure of 7.83 Tonne-year over 579 days in three science runs. Dedicated background suppression techniques and the first complete S2-only background model in XENONnT provide sensitivity to nuclear recoils of [0.5,5.0] keV_{nr} and electronic recoils of [0.04,0.7] keV_{ee}. No significant excess over the expected background is observed, and we set 90% confidence level upper limits on spin-independent DM-nucleon and spin-dependent DM-neutron scattering for DM masses between 3 and 8 GeV/c^{2}, as well as on DM-electron scattering, axionlike particles, and dark photons, improving on previous constraints. For spin-independent DM-nucleon scattering, we exclude cross sections above 6.0×10^{-45} cm^{2} at a DM mass of 5 GeV/c^{2}, pushing the XENONnT sensitivity closer to the region where coherent elastic neutrino-nucleus scattering becomes an irreducible background.
SN  - 0031-9007
SN  - 1079-7114
SN  - 1092-0145
ER  -