Speaker
Dr
Liangliang Su
(Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT))
Description
The electron ionization channel of the Migdal effect in dark matter-nucleus scattering has been shown to enhance sensitivity to sub-GeV dark matter. In this work, we demonstrate for the first time that lower energy electron excitations can also provide a novel and promising pathway, enabling detection of even lighter dark matter previously inaccessible to direct searches. Direct detection experiments based on superfluid $^4$He can exploit this channel by observing electronic excitations via UV-photon emission. We calculate the resulting event rates and find that the electron excitation induced by the Migdal effect can probe dark matter-nucleus scattering for dark matter masses as small as a few MeV.
| Main Contribution topic | Light Dark Matter |
|---|---|
| Secondary contribution topic | Direct detection |
Authors
Prof.
Felix Kahlhoefer
(Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT))
Dr
Liangliang Su
(Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT))