Coherence in scattering of massive weakly interacting neutral particles off nuclei

TL;DR

This paper develops a new theoretical framework for describing both elastic and inelastic scattering of massive neutral particles off nuclei, with implications for dark matter detection experiments.

Contribution

It introduces a comprehensive approach that accounts for both elastic and inelastic nuclear responses in weak interactions of neutral particles, enhancing dark matter detection strategies.

Findings

Inelastic scattering with photon emission can dominate when elastic signals are suppressed.

Both recoil energy and gamma radiation should be detected for effective dark matter searches.

The model links nuclear form factors to the transition between elastic and inelastic scattering.

Abstract

The paper presents a novel approach to the description of the nonrelativistic weak interaction of a massive neutral particle (lepton) and a nucleus, in which the latter retains its integrity. The cross section of such a process is a sum of the elastic (or coherent) contribution, when the nucleus remains in its original state, and the inelastic (incoherent) contribution, when the nucleus is in an excited state. Smooth transition from elastic scattering to inelastic scattering is governed by the dependence of the nuclear form factors on the momentum transferred to the nucleus. The intensity of the weak interaction is set by the parameters that determine the contributions to the probability amplitude from the scalar products of the leptonic and nucleon currents. The resulting expressions are of interest, at least in the problem of direct detection of neutral massive weakly interacting particles of dark matter, since in this case, in contrast to the generally accepted approach, both elastic and inelastic processes are simultaneously considered. It is shown that the presence of the inelastic contribution accompanied by emission of characteristic radiation (photons) from the deexcitation of the nucleus turns out to be decisive when the coherent cross section is strongly suppressed or cannot be detected. Therefore in order to extract maximum information about dark matter particles, one should plan experiments aimed at the direct detection of dark matter particles in a setting that allows one to detect both the recoil energy of the nucleus and the gamma quanta from the deexcitation of the nucleus.