On the relation between Migdal effect and dark matter-electron scattering in isolated atoms and semiconductors

Abstract

A key strategy for the direct detection of sub-GeV dark matter is to search for small ionization signals. These can arise from dark matter-electron scattering or when the dark matter-nucleus scattering process is accompanied by a "Migdal" electron. We show that the theoretical descriptions of both processes are closely related, which allows for a principal mapping between dark matter-electron and dark matter-nucleus scattering rates once the dark matter interactions with matter are specified. We explore this parametric relationship for noble-liquid targets and, for the first time, provide an estimate of the "Migdal" ionization rate in semiconductors that is based on evaluating a crystal form factor that accounts for the semiconductor band structure. We also present new dark-matter-nucleus scattering limits down to dark matter masses of 500 keV using published data from XENON10, XENON100, and a SENSEI prototype Skipper-CCD. For a dark photon mediator, the dark matter-electron scattering rates dominate over the Migdal rates for dark matter masses below 100 MeV. We also provide projections for proposed experiments with xenon and silicon targets.

arXiv comment5 pages, 3 figures; journal version (with longer abstract), results unchanged

References in corpus (58)

• Dark Matter Search Results from a One Tonne$\times$Year Exposure of XENON1T
• Direct Detection of Sub-GeV Dark Matter
• A search for light dark matter in XENON10 data
• Light Dark Matter Search with Ionization Signals in XENON1T
• First results from the CRESST-III low-mass dark matter program
• First Direct Detection Limits on sub-GeV Dark Matter from XENON10
• Low-Mass Dark Matter Search with the DarkSide-50 Experiment
• New Constraints and Prospects for sub-GeV Dark Matter Scattering off Electrons in Xenon
• First Dark Matter Constraints from a SuperCDMS Single-Charge Sensitive Detector
• Novel direct detection constraints on light dark matter
• Single-electron and single-photon sensitivity with a silicon Skipper CCD
• Direct Detection Constraints on Dark Photon Dark Matter
• Migdal Effect in Dark Matter Direct Detection Experiments
• Superconducting Detectors for Super Light Dark Matter
• Search for Light Dark Matter Interactions Enhanced by the Migdal effect or Bremsstrahlung in XENON1T
• Constraints on Sub-GeV Dark Matter-Electron Scattering from the DarkSide-50 Experiment
• Constraints on Light Dark Matter Particles Interacting with Electrons from DAMIC at SNOLAB
• Searching for low-mass dark matter particles with a massive Ge bolometer operated above-ground
• SENSEI: Direct-Detection Constraints on Sub-GeV Dark Matter from a Shallow Underground Run Using a Prototype Skipper-CCD
• SENSEI: First Direct-Detection Constraints on sub-GeV Dark Matter from a Surface Run
• Detection of sub-MeV Dark Matter with Three-Dimensional Dirac Materials
• Detecting Superlight Dark Matter with Fermi-Degenerate Materials
• Semiconductor Probes of Light Dark Matter
• Detection of Light Dark Matter With Optical Phonons in Polar Materials
• Light Dark Matter at Neutrino Experiments
• Absorption of light dark matter in semiconductors
• Direct Detection of Strongly Interacting Sub-GeV Dark Matter via Electron Recoils
• Directional Detection of Dark Matter with Two-Dimensional Targets
• Searching for Dark Absorption with Direct Detection Experiments
• Direct Detection of sub-GeV Dark Matter with Scintillating Targets
• Results of a Search for Sub-GeV Dark Matter Using 2013 LUX Data
• Detecting Ultralight Bosonic Dark Matter via Absorption in Superconductors
• Probing sub-GeV Dark Matter with conventional detectors
• On electromagnetic contributions in WIMP quests
• Directly detecting sub-GeV dark matter with electrons from nuclear scattering
• First Axion Results from the XENON100 Experiment
• Modulation Effects in Dark Matter-Electron Scattering Experiments
• Constraints on Spin-Independent Nucleus Scattering with sub-GeV Weakly Interacting Massive Particle Dark Matter from the CDEX-1B Experiment at the China Jin-Ping Laboratory
• Strong New Limits on Light Dark Matter from Neutrino Experiments
• A low-mass dark matter search using ionization signals in XENON100
• First Direct-Detection Constraints on eV-Scale Hidden-Photon Dark Matter with DAMIC at SNOLAB
• Solar Neutrinos as a Signal and Background in Direct-Detection Experiments Searching for Sub-GeV Dark Matter With Electron Recoils
• Direct Detection of Light Dark Matter and Solar Neutrinos via Color Center Production in Crystals
• Sub-GeV Dark Matter Detection with Electron Recoils in Carbon Nanotubes
• Observation and applications of single-electron charge signals in the XENON100 experiment
• Detection of sub-GeV Dark Matter and Solar Neutrinos via Chemical-Bond Breaking
• Dark matter scattering on electrons: Accurate calculations of atomic excitations and implications for the DAMA signal
• The role of ionization electrons in direct dark matter detection
• Quantum Forces from Dark Matter and Where to Find Them
• Search for a Non-Relativistic Component in the Spectrum of Cosmic Rays at Earth
• Constraining Dark Matter Models with a Light Mediator from PandaX-II Experiment
• Thermal detection of single e-h pairs in a biased silicon crystal detector
• Direct dark matter search by observing electrons produced in neutralino-nucleus collisions
• Magnetic Bubble Chambers and Sub-GeV Dark Matter Direct Detection
• Signal yields, energy resolution, and recombination fluctuations in liquid xenon
• Ultra-Low Energy Calibration of LUX Detector using ${}^{127}$Xe Electron Capture
• Dark matter search by exclusive studies of X-rays following WIMPs nuclear interactions
• WIMP detection and slow ion dynamics in carbon nanotube arrays

Cited by in corpus (95)

• SENSEI: Direct-Detection Results on sub-GeV Dark Matter from a New Skipper-CCD
• Multi-Channel Direct Detection of Light Dark Matter: Target Comparison
• Atomic responses to general dark matter-electron interactions
• Determining Dark Matter-Electron Scattering Rates from the Dielectric Function
• The Migdal effect in semiconductors
• DarkELF: A python package for dark matter scattering in dielectric targets
• SENSEI: First Direct-Detection Results on sub-GeV Dark Matter from SENSEI at SNOLAB
• Dark matter-electron scattering in dielectrics
• Searches for light dark matter using condensed matter systems
• Exploring New Physics with O(keV) Electron Recoils in Direct Detection Experiments
• Integral X-ray constraints on sub-GeV Dark Matter
• A Search for the Cosmic Ray Boosted Sub-GeV Dark Matter at the PandaX-II Experiment
• Germanium response to sub-keV nuclear recoils: a multipronged experimental characterization
• Sources of Low-Energy Events in Low-Threshold Dark Matter and Neutrino Detectors
• Solar Reflection of Dark Matter
• Electric But Not Eclectic: Thermal Relic Dark Matter for the XENON1T Excess
• A Dark Matter Interpretation of Excesses in Multiple Direct Detection Experiments
• Cosmic-ray upscattered inelastic dark matter
• Diurnal Effect of Sub-GeV Dark Matter Boosted by Cosmic Rays
• Migdal effect and photon Bremsstrahlung: improving the sensitivity to light dark matter of liquid argon experiments
• Accelerating Composite Dark Matter Discovery with Nuclear Recoils and the Migdal Effect
• Solar reflection of light dark matter with heavy mediators
• Low-mass inelastic dark matter direct detection via the Migdal effect
• Model-independent determination of the Migdal effect via photoabsorption
• Prospects of Migdal Effect in the Explanation of XENON1T Electron Recoil Excess
• Describing the Migdal effect with a bremsstrahlung-like process and many-body effects
• Dark Matter Daily Modulation With Anisotropic Organic Crystals
• Precise predictions and new insights for atomic ionisation from the Migdal effect
• The MIGDAL experiment: Measuring a rare atomic process to aid the search for dark matter
• Cosmic-ray dark matter confronted by constraints on new light mediators
• Direct Detection of Spin-Dependent Sub-GeV Dark Matter via Migdal Effect
• Plasmon production from dark matter scattering
• The Migdal Effect in Semiconductors for Dark Matter with Masses below $\sim$100 MeV
• Resonant or asymmetric: The status of sub-GeV dark matter
• The ups and downs of inelastic dark matter: Electron recoils from terrestrial upscattering
• The Molecular Migdal Effect
• Skipper-CCD Sensors for the Oscura Experiment: Requirements and Preliminary Tests
• Describing Migdal effects in diamond crystal with atom-centered localized Wannier functions
• Revisiting the Fermionic Dark Matter Absorption on Electron Target
• A neutrino floor for the Migdal effect
• Constraints on Dark Matter-Electron Scattering from Molecular Cloud Ionization
• Searching for low mass dark matter via phonon creation in superfluid 4He
• WimPyDD: an object-oriented Python code for the calculation of WIMP direct detection signals
• Spin-dependent sub-GeV Inelastic Dark Matter-electron scattering and Migdal effect: (I). Velocity Independent Operator
• Measuring the Migdal effect in semiconductors for dark matter detection
• Phonon-mediated Migdal effect in semiconductor detectors
• Dark matter substructures affect dark matter-electron scattering in xenon-based direct detection experiments
• Dark Matter from Monogem
• An Improved Bound on Accelerated Light Dark Matter
• In-medium screening effects for the Galactic halo and solar-reflected dark matter detection in semiconductor targets
• Dark Moments for the Standard Model ?
• Dark Matter Direct Detection with Quantum Dots
• Fuelling the search for light dark matter-electron scattering with spherical proportional counters
• First Sub-MeV Dark Matter Search with the QROCODILE Experiment Using Superconducting Nanowire Single-Photon Detectors
• Detection of Inelastic Dark Matter via Electron Recoils in SENSEI
• On the impact of the Migdal effect in reactor CE$\nu$NS experiments
• Exothermic dark mesons in light of electron recoil excess at XENON1T
• Revisiting general dark matter-bound-electron interactions
• Impact of uncertainties in the halo velocity profile on direct detection of sub-GeV dark matter
• Low-mass extension of direct detection bounds on WIMP-quark and WIMP-gluon effective interactions using the Migdal effect
• Plasmon-enhanced Direct Detection Method for Boosted sub-MeV Dark Matter
• Terrestrial Probes of Electromagnetically Interacting Dark Radiation
• Accurate electron-recoil ionization factors for dark matter direct detection in xenon, krypton and argon
• Multipole vector dark matter below the GeV-scale
• Exploring light dark matter with the Migdal effect in hydrogen-doped liquid xenon
• Explorations of pseudo-Dirac dark matter having keV splittings and interacting via transition electric and magnetic dipole moments
• Impact of Dark Compton Scattering on Direct Dark Matter Absorption Searches
• Probing Dark Matter Electromagnetic Properties in Direct Detection Experiments
• Effect on Dark Matter Exclusion Limits from New Silicon Photoelectric Absorption Measurements
• The Non-Relativistic Effective Field Theory Of Dark Matter-Electron Interactions
• Detection and Calibration of Low-Energy Nuclear Recoils for Dark Matter and Neutrino Scattering Experiments
• Dark Matter as a Solution to Muonic Puzzles
• Low-mass constraints on WIMP effective models of inelastic scattering using the Migdal effect
• Probing Light Inelastic Dark Matter from Direct Detection
• Sub-GeV Dark Matter Direct Detection with Neutrino Observatories
• Can sub-GeV dark matter coherently scatter on the electrons in the Atom?
• Measuring the molecular Migdal effect with neutron scattering on diatomic gases
• Sub-GeV Dark Matter Searches with EDELWEISS: New results and prospects
• The linear response theory approach to the sub-GeV dark matter in the Sun
• Searching for low-mass dark matter via Migdal effect in COSINE-100
• Probing levitodynamics with multi-stochastic forces and the simple applications on the dark matter detection in optical levitation experiment
• Information divergences to parametrize astrophysical uncertainties in dark matter direct detection
• Search for Solar Boosted Dark Matter Particles at the PandaX-4T Experiment
• Nuclear and electron scattering by neutrinos and dark matter in condensed systems
• The Migdal effect in solid crystals and the role of non-adiabaticity
• Revisiting the Dark Matter Interpretation of Excess Rates in Semiconductors
• Mapping the evolution of supernova-neutrino-boosted dark matter within the Milky Way
• Search for sub-GeV invisible particles in inclusive decays of $J/\psi$ to $\varphi$
• First direct search for light dark matter interactions in a transition-edge sensor
• Cutting rules for non-relativistic dark matter in solids based on Kohn-Sham orbitals
• Dark Matter Detection With Bound Nuclear Targets: The Poisson Phonon Tail
• Detection capability of Migdal effect for argon and xenon nuclei with position sensitive gaseous detectors
• New constraints on dark matter from superconducting nanowires
• Observing the Migdal effect from nuclear recoils of neutral particles with liquid xenon and argon detectors
• Comparison of the Migdal transition probabilities in electron-atom inelastic cross sections