{
  "abstract": "The LUX-ZEPLIN (LZ) experiment has reported a single candidate event in the high-energy nuclear recoil window $248\\pm32.5\\ \\mathrm{keV}_{\\mathrm{nr}}$ with an exposure of $2.84\\ \\mathrm{ton}\\cdot\\mathrm{yr}$, while the low-energy spectrum remains consistent with background expectations. We demonstrate that this excess can be naturally explained by the neutral-current absorption of fermionic dark matter on xenon nuclei. For a dark matter mass $m_χ\\simeq 247\\ \\mathrm{MeV}$, the coherent absorption process produces a monoenergetic nuclear recoil at $E_R \\simeq 248\\ \\mathrm{keV}_{\\mathrm{nr}}$. At this momentum transfer, the absorption process enters the incoherent regime, where scattering off individual nucleons produces a broad recoil spectrum extending from $\\sim 200\\ \\mathrm{keV}$ to $100.2\\ \\mathrm{MeV}$. We show that a single effective field theory coupling can simultaneously produce one event in the $248\\pm32.5\\ \\mathrm{keV}_{\\mathrm{nr}}$ window while remaining consistent with the non-observation of events in neighboring energy regions. The required single-nucleon absorption cross section is $σ_{χN}^{\\mathrm{NC}} = 1.07\\times10^{-46}\\ \\mathrm{cm}^2$, corresponding to an effective field theory scale $Λ\\simeq 11.5\\ \\mathrm{TeV}$. However, a recasting analysis of KamLAND data on the neutron-emission channel $χ+{}^{12}\\mathrm{C} \\to ν+ n + {}^{11}\\mathrm{C}^*$ excludes this benchmark parameter space, establishing a significant tension between the LZ excess interpretation and existing constraints from large-volume scintillator detectors. We discuss the implications of this tension and prospects for resolving it with future dedicated high-energy analyses.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "Department of Physics and Institute of Theoretical Physics , Nanjing Normal University , Nanjing , 210023 , China"
  ],
  "article_type": null,
  "arxiv": "2609.01592",
  "author_total": 2,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Yuanchao Lou",
      "orcid": "0009-0004-5494-4338"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "hih-Ting Lu"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/cznr87yv4r2t2.bib",
  "cited_by": 58,
  "doi": "10.48550/arxiv.2609.01592",
  "fulltext_url": null,
  "id": "cznr87yv4r2t2",
  "issns": [
    "2331-8422"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.01592",
  "language": "en",
  "licence": "CC-BY-4.0",
  "licence_label": "CC BY 4.0",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": "CC0-1.0",
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "arxiv",
      "hep-ex"
    ],
    [
      "arxiv",
      "hep-ph"
    ],
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      "openalex",
      "3106|Dark Matter and Cosmic Phenomena"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7206160715",
  "pdf_url": "https://arxiv.org/pdf/2609.01592",
  "pmcid": null,
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-09-01",
  "publisher": "Cornell University",
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/cznr87yv4r2t2.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:18:16Z",
      "native_id": "2609.01592",
      "source": "arxiv",
      "url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.01592"
    },
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-11-07T13:20:44Z",
      "native_id": "W7206160715",
      "source": "openalex",
      "url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.01592"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "physics",
      "origin": "arxiv:hep-ex",
      "subfield": "high-energy"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Fermionic Dark Matter Absorption and the High-Energy Event in LUX-ZEPLIN",
  "title_text": "Fermionic Dark Matter Absorption and the High-Energy Event in LUX-ZEPLIN",
  "type": "preprint",
  "updated_at": "2026-11-09T13:21:01Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/cznr87yv4r2t2",
  "venue": "arXiv",
  "versions": []
}