Search for a Dark Matter-Induced Annual Modulation Signal in NaI(Tl) with the COSINE-100 Experiment

Abstract

We present new constraints on the dark matter-induced annual modulation signal using 1.7 years of COSINE-100 data with a total exposure of 97.7 kg yr. The COSINE-100 experiment, consisting of 106 kg of NaI(Tl) target material, is designed to carry out a model-independent test of DAMA/LIBRA's claim of WIMP discovery by searching for the same annual modulation signal using the same NaI(Tl) target. The crystal data show a 2.7 cpd/kg/keV background rate on average in the 2-6 keV energy region of interest. Using a chi-squared minimization method we observe best fit values for modulation amplitude and phase of 0.0092 +/- 0.0067 cpd/kg/keV and 127.2 +/- 45.9 d, respectively. © 2019 American Physical Society