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| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Preprint |
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2026
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| Online Access: | https://arxiv.org/abs/2605.13659 |
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| _version_ | 1866914563485597696 |
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| author | Hedges, Samuel Huber, Patrick |
| author_facet | Hedges, Samuel Huber, Patrick |
| contents | We present the first paleo-detector dark matter sensitivity analysis based on a calorimetric readout, in which the number of stable lattice vacancies produced by each nuclear recoil is used as a per-event observable complementary to the track length. Using full-cascade SRIM simulations in olivine, we compute the expected sensitivity for a 100 gGyr exposure. We find that a vacancy-only readout reaches a sensitivity envelope very similar to that of state-of-the-art track-only analyses. The combination of the two observables provides an event-by-event proxy for |dE/dx| and hence for the recoiling nuclear species. Since the neutron-nucleus cross section is approximately flat in nuclear mass while the dark-matter--nucleus cross section scales as $A^2$, this discrimination suppresses the dominant neutron background by more than an order of magnitude at moderate dark matter masses. The combined-analysis sensitivity reaches spin-independent dark-matter--nucleon cross sections of order $10^{-48}\,\mathrm{cm}^2$ at WIMP masses of a few tens of GeV, comparable to future direct detection experiments. A two-stage readout combining selective-plane illumination microscopy with scanning electron microscopy is identified as a path to making a 100 g-scale analysis plausible. |
| format | Preprint |
| id |
arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2605_13659 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2026 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | Calorimetric approach to paleo-detection of dark matter Hedges, Samuel Huber, Patrick High Energy Physics - Phenomenology Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics High Energy Physics - Experiment We present the first paleo-detector dark matter sensitivity analysis based on a calorimetric readout, in which the number of stable lattice vacancies produced by each nuclear recoil is used as a per-event observable complementary to the track length. Using full-cascade SRIM simulations in olivine, we compute the expected sensitivity for a 100 gGyr exposure. We find that a vacancy-only readout reaches a sensitivity envelope very similar to that of state-of-the-art track-only analyses. The combination of the two observables provides an event-by-event proxy for |dE/dx| and hence for the recoiling nuclear species. Since the neutron-nucleus cross section is approximately flat in nuclear mass while the dark-matter--nucleus cross section scales as $A^2$, this discrimination suppresses the dominant neutron background by more than an order of magnitude at moderate dark matter masses. The combined-analysis sensitivity reaches spin-independent dark-matter--nucleon cross sections of order $10^{-48}\,\mathrm{cm}^2$ at WIMP masses of a few tens of GeV, comparable to future direct detection experiments. A two-stage readout combining selective-plane illumination microscopy with scanning electron microscopy is identified as a path to making a 100 g-scale analysis plausible. |
| title | Calorimetric approach to paleo-detection of dark matter |
| topic | High Energy Physics - Phenomenology Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics High Energy Physics - Experiment |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2605.13659 |