Investigation of light dark matter with 2 beta decay experiments

Nuclei that are unstable with respect to double beta decay are investigated in this work for a novel dark matter (DM) direct detection approach. In particular, the diagram responsible for the neutrinoless double beta decay can be considered for the possible detection technique of aMajorana DMfermion inelastically scattering on a double beta unstable nucleus, stimulating its decay. The exothermic nature of the stimulated double beta decay would allow the direct detection also of a lightDMfermion, a class ofDMcandidates that are difficult or impossible to investigate with the traditional elastic scattering techniques. The expected signal distribution for different DM masses and the upper limits on the nucleus scattering cross sections, are shown and compared with the existing data for the case of (136)Chi e nucleus.

Automated summary

In this work, unstable nuclei with respect to double beta decay are studied for a new approach to dark matter direct detection. The diagram responsible for neutrinoless double beta decay is considered as a possible detection technique for inelastically scattering a Majorana dark matter fermion on a double beta unstable nucleus, stimulating its decay. The exothermic nature of stimulated double beta decay enables the direct detection of light dark matter fermions, which are difficult to investigate using traditional elastic scattering techniques. The expected signal distribution for different dark matter masses and the upper limits on nucleus scattering cross sections, along with existing data for the (136)Chi e nucleus, are shown and compared.