Novel neutrino-floor and dark matter searches with deformed shell model calculations

TL;DR

This paper calculates event detection rates for dark matter detectors using the deformed shell model, focusing on the neutrino-floor from neutrino interactions and exploring new physics contributions affecting background levels.

Contribution

It introduces nuclear structure form factors within the deformed shell model to evaluate neutrino-floor effects and new physics contributions in dark matter detection.

Findings

Neutrino-floor is a significant background for multi-ton detectors.

New physics like neutrino magnetic moments affect CEνNS rates.

Deformed shell model provides reliable nuclear form factors for these calculations.

Abstract

Event detection rates for WIMP-nucleus interactions are calculated for $^{71}$Ga, $^{73}$Ge, $^{75}$As and $^{127}$I (direct dark matter detectors). The nuclear structure form factors, that are rather independent of the underlying beyond the Standard Model particle physics scenario assumed, are evaluated within the context of the deformed nuclear shell model (DSM) based on Hartree-Fock nuclear states. Along with the previously published DSM results for $^{73}$Ge, the neutrino-floor due to coherent elastic neutrino-nucleus scattering (CE$\nu$NS), an important source of background to dark matter searches, is extensively calculated. The impact of new contributions to CE$\nu$NS due to neutrino magnetic moments and $Z^\prime$ mediators at direct dark matter detection experiments is also examined and discussed. The results show that the neutrino-floor constitutes a crucial source of background events for multi-ton scale detectors with sub-keV capabilities.