DM induced neutron disappearance as the origin of the LZ nuclear recoil event
Abstract
We investigate dark-matter-induced neutron disappearance as an interpretation of the high-energy nuclear recoil event reported by LUX-ZEPLIN. An incoming dark matter (DM) particle annihilates a bound neutron into an invisible scalar, leaving a recoiling daughter nucleus. For each accessible daughter state, two-body kinematics fixes the recoil energy in the zero-velocity limit, producing a line spectrum broadened by halo velocities. We identify parameter regions for benchmark DM masses of 5 and 50 GeV that can account for the event near 248 keV without producing events at lower energy. We examine collider constraints in an illustrative ultraviolet completion and recast Borexino data to constrain accompanying nuclear de-excitation signals. More generally, the DM-induced neutron disappearance provides a framework for interpreting localized nuclear recoil excesses in future direct-detection experiments.
Related
- Neutron disappearance and the LZ nuclear recoil event
- Nuclear recoil with electron vacuum polarization in muonic atoms
- Nuclear recoil effects with a realistic nuclear charge form factor
- A Freeze-In Interpretation of the LZ High-Energy Nuclear Recoil Event
- Higgsino Dark Matter Interpretation of the LUX-ZEPLIN 248 keV Nuclear-Recoil Event
BibTeX
@misc{uttayarat2026induced,
title = {{DM induced neutron disappearance as the origin of the LZ nuclear recoil event}},
author = {P. Uttayarat and J. Julio and R. Primulando},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2609.15933},
eprint = {2609.15933},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.15933},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - DM induced neutron disappearance as the origin of the LZ nuclear recoil event
AU - P. Uttayarat
AU - J. Julio
AU - R. Primulando
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/14
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2609.15933
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.15933
AB - We investigate dark-matter-induced neutron disappearance as an interpretation of the high-energy nuclear recoil event reported by LUX-ZEPLIN. An incoming dark matter (DM) particle annihilates a bound neutron into an invisible scalar, leaving a recoiling daughter nucleus. For each accessible daughter state, two-body kinematics fixes the recoil energy in the zero-velocity limit, producing a line spectrum broadened by halo velocities. We identify parameter regions for benchmark DM masses of 5 and 50 GeV that can account for the event near 248 keV without producing events at lower energy. We examine collider constraints in an illustrative ultraviolet completion and recast Borexino data to constrain accompanying nuclear de-excitation signals. More generally, the DM-induced neutron disappearance provides a framework for interpreting localized nuclear recoil excesses in future direct-detection experiments.
ER -