Solar and Atmospheric Neutrinos: Limitations for Direct Dark Matter Searches

TL;DR

This paper discusses how neutrino interactions pose fundamental limitations on the sensitivity of direct dark matter detection experiments, especially due to atmospheric neutrino backgrounds.

Contribution

It quantifies the energy thresholds needed for different detector materials and establishes the sensitivity limits imposed by atmospheric neutrinos.

Findings

Energy thresholds for various materials to avoid neutrino background.

Atmospheric neutrinos set a fundamental sensitivity limit at 10^-12 pb.

Neutrino backgrounds challenge future dark matter detection efforts.

Abstract

In experiments for direct dark matter searches, neutrinos coherently scattering off nuclei can produce similar events as Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs). To reach sensitivities better than about 10^-10 pb for the elastic WIMP nucleon spin-independent cross section in the zero-background limit, energy thresholds for nuclear recoils should be >2.05 keV for CaWO_4, >4.91 keV for Ge, >2.89 keV for Xe, >8.62 keV for Ar and >15.93 keV for Ne as target material. Atmospheric neutrinos limit the achievable sensitivity for the background-free direct dark matter search to >10^-12 pb.