{
  "abstract": "We propose Higgsino dark matter as a potential interpretation of the $248~\\mathrm{keV}$ nuclear-recoil event of interest reported by the LUX-ZEPLIN (LZ) experiment. LZ studied several rare background processes and detector effects in detail, but did not identify any as a likely explanation of the event. A nearly pure Higgsino naturally realizes inelastic dark matter through the off-diagonal $Z$ coupling of two nearly degenerate neutral Majorana states separated by a mass splitting $δ$. The same electroweak interaction fixes the inelastic Higgsino-nucleon scattering cross section, rather than leaving it as a free parameter. We show that the predicted Higgsino inelastic scattering cross section approaches the published LZ two-sided 90% confidence interval for a Higgsino mass $m_{\\widetilde H}\\sim1~\\mathrm{TeV}$ and a mass splitting $δ\\sim350~\\mathrm{keV}$.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "Weinberg Institute for Theoretical Physics , Department of Physics , The University of Texas at Austin , Austin , TX 78712 , USA"
  ],
  "article_type": null,
  "arxiv": "2609.01583",
  "author_total": 2,
  "authors": [
    {
      "name": "Katherine Freese",
      "orcid": "0000-0001-9725-7395"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Dionysios P. Theodosopoulos",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-7271-2176"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/f3m7tcza7jfrh.bib",
  "cited_by": 88,
  "doi": "10.48550/arxiv.2609.01583",
  "fulltext_url": null,
  "id": "f3m7tcza7jfrh",
  "issns": [
    "2331-8422"
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  "landing_url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.01583",
  "language": "en",
  "licence": "CC-BY-4.0",
  "licence_label": "CC BY 4.0",
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  "metadata_licence": "CC0-1.0",
  "native_subjects": [
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      "astro-ph.CO"
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      "arxiv",
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      "arxiv",
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      "openalex",
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  "openalex": "W7206174516",
  "pdf_url": "https://arxiv.org/pdf/2609.01583",
  "pmcid": null,
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-09-01",
  "publisher": "Cornell University",
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/f3m7tcza7jfrh.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:24:52Z",
      "native_id": "2609.01583",
      "source": "arxiv",
      "url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.01583"
    },
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      "url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.01583"
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  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "astronomy",
      "origin": "arxiv:astro-ph.CO",
      "subfield": "cosmology"
    },
    {
      "field": "physics",
      "origin": "arxiv:hep-ph",
      "subfield": "high-energy"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Higgsino Dark Matter Interpretation of the LUX-ZEPLIN 248 keV Nuclear-Recoil Event",
  "title_text": "Higgsino Dark Matter Interpretation of the LUX-ZEPLIN 248 keV Nuclear-Recoil Event",
  "type": "preprint",
  "updated_at": "2026-11-09T13:21:01Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/f3m7tcza7jfrh",
  "venue": "arXiv",
  "versions": []
}