{
  "abstract": "The LUX-ZEPLIN (LZ) Collaboration recently reported one event consistent with a $248$ keV nuclear recoil in a $2.84$ tonne-year exposure, with a maximum local significance of $3.4σ$ and a global significance of $2.6σ$. We investigate whether the dark matter (DM)--nucleon interactions favored by this high-energy event can arise from particle DM models that simultaneously reproduce the observed relic abundance and satisfy indirect-detection constraints. Using the published LZ efficiency and operator significances, we show that elastic spin-independent (SI) scattering poorly explains an isolated high-energy recoil because its spectrum is concentrated at lower energies, whereas elastic spin-dependent (SD) $\\mathcal{O}_4$ scattering remains viable. Endothermic scattering instead naturally suppresses the low-energy rate and shifts the recoil spectrum toward the observed energy. A thermal pseudo-Dirac fermion with an off-diagonal vector interaction provides a simple realization of this mechanism. For $m_χ\\simeq1$ TeV, the relic-density requirement predicts $σ_N\\simeq6.5\\times10^{-43}\\,\\mathrm{cm}^2$, while a splitting $δ\\simeq297$ keV shifts the recoil spectrum into the LZ event region. Present-day indirect-detection signals can be strongly suppressed because freeze-out proceeds mainly through coannihilation, while the excited state is depleted at late times. A thermal Higgsino provides a more predictive realization: its relic abundance fixes the mass near $1.1$ TeV, while a splitting $δ\\simeq 377$ keV is required to reproduce the event. This interpretation is testable through the associated gamma-ray line signal. Overall, combining direct detection, relic density, and indirect detection significantly restricts the viable interpretations of the LZ event and provides concrete targets for future searches.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare , Sezione di Torino , Via P. Giuria 1 , 10125 Torino , Italy"
  ],
  "article_type": null,
  "arxiv": "2609.02608",
  "author_total": 1,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Mattia Di Mauro",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-2759-5625"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/53yvebrw76vt0.bib",
  "cited_by": 75,
  "doi": "10.48550/arxiv.2609.02608",
  "fulltext_url": null,
  "id": "53yvebrw76vt0",
  "issns": [
    "2331-8422"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.02608",
  "language": "en",
  "licence": "CC0-1.0",
  "licence_label": "CC0",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/",
  "metadata_licence": "CC0-1.0",
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "arxiv",
      "astro-ph.HE"
    ],
    [
      "arxiv",
      "hep-ph"
    ],
    [
      "arxiv",
      "hep-th"
    ],
    [
      "openalex",
      "3106|Dark Matter and Cosmic Phenomena"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7207722365",
  "pdf_url": "https://arxiv.org/pdf/2609.02608",
  "pmcid": null,
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-09-02",
  "publisher": "Cornell University",
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/53yvebrw76vt0.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:18:31Z",
      "native_id": "2609.02608",
      "source": "arxiv",
      "url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.02608"
    },
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-11-07T13:20:44Z",
      "native_id": "W7207722365",
      "source": "openalex",
      "url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.02608"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "astronomy",
      "origin": "arxiv:astro-ph.HE",
      "subfield": "high-energy-astrophysics"
    },
    {
      "field": "physics",
      "origin": "arxiv:hep-ph",
      "subfield": "high-energy"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Dark Matter at the Kinematic Edge: Interpreting the 248 keV LZ Nuclear-Recoil Candidate",
  "title_text": "Dark Matter at the Kinematic Edge: Interpreting the 248 keV LZ Nuclear-Recoil Candidate",
  "type": "preprint",
  "updated_at": "2026-11-08T13:20:37Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/53yvebrw76vt0",
  "venue": "arXiv",
  "versions": []
}