Strong constraints from COSINE-100 on the DAMA dark matter results using the same sodium iodide target

Sci Adv. 2021 Nov 12;7(46):eabk2699. doi: 10.1126/sciadv.abk2699. Epub 2021 Nov 10.

Abstract

We present new constraints on dark matter interactions using 1.7 years of COSINE-100 data. The COSINE-100 experiment, consisting of 106 kg of tallium-doped sodium iodide [NaI(Tl)] target material, is aimed to test DAMA’s claim of dark matter observation using the same NaI(Tl) detectors. Improved event selection requirements, a more precise understanding of the detector background, and the use of a larger dataset considerably enhance the COSINE-100 sensitivity for dark matter detection. No signal consistent with the dark matter interaction is identified and rules out model-dependent dark matter interpretations of the DAMA signals in the specific context of standard halo model with the same NaI(Tl) target for various interaction hypotheses.