Year: 2026
Type: preprint
Abstract: We investigate whether the recently reported high-energy nuclear recoil event by the LUX-ZEPLIN (LZ) collaboration can be interpreted as a signal of freeze-in dark matter (DM) in a non-standard cosmological history. We consider DM production from the Standard Model thermal bath during an era of modified expansion preceding Big Bang nucleosynthesis. Requiring consistency with the observed DM abundance, cosmological and collider constraints, we identify viable parameter regions that can accommodate the LZ event. Our results demonstrate the potential of direct detection experiments to probe non-standard cosmological histories and, more broadly, alternative theories of gravity.
Source: arXiv (Cornell University)
Author: Barman, Basabendu
Institution: SRM University
Subfield: Nuclear and High Energy Physics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7213257640
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