Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: A bstract Nuclear reactors serve as a key artificial source of light dark matter. Direct detection of reactor-produced dark matter faces substantial obstacles, since quenching effects suppress conventional elastic scattering signals below detector thresholds. We present a new search strategy utilizing the Migdal effect in germanium detectors to probe light dark matter produced via nuclear de-excitation from reactors. Using ON-OFF residual spectra from the TEXONO experiment, we set a new stringent limit on the dark matter and nucleus interaction over the mass range 0 . 01 MeV ≲ m χ ≲ 2 . 6 MeV, which provides a complementary bound to existing cosmological and astrophysical limits.
Source: Journal of High Energy Physics
Authors: Yuanchao Lou, Liangliang Su, Lei Wu
Institutions: Nanjing Normal University, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology
Language: English
Subfield: Nuclear and High Energy Physics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
Awards: G4535974609, G5521981088
OpenAlex ID: W7168293586