Work

Inelastic Dark Matter from a Higher-Dimensional Operator: The LUX-ZEPLIN High-Recoil Event and Thermal Relic

Year: 2026

Type: preprint

Abstract: The recent LUX-ZEPLIN (LZ) data shows a nuclear-recoil event around $248\,\mathrm{keV}$, motivating scenarios in which dark matter (DM) preferentially scatters at large recoil energies. We investigate an inelastic scattering interpretation in terms of a simple extension with a fermionic DM field interacting with the Standard Model through a single dimension-6 operator. A tiny soft symmetry breaking term facilitates an endothermic transition while naturally suppressing elastic scatterings. Without any fine tuning, a simultaneous explanation of the LZ data and the observed relic density can be effected for a DM mass in the $\sim (0.2,1)$ TeV range.

Source: arXiv (Cornell University)

DOI: 10.48550/arxiv.2610.00645

Authors: Choudhury, Debajyoti, Das, Jaydeb, Sachdeva, Divya

Institutions: University of Delhi, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad

Language: English

Topic: Dark Matter and Cosmic Phenomena

Subfield: Nuclear and High Energy Physics

Field: Physics and Astronomy

Domain: Physical Sciences

Open Access status: green

OpenAlex ID: W7216472134

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