On the possibility of improving the sensitivity of dark-matter detection

Abstract

First we investigate the detectability of nuclear magnetic transitions produced by dark-matter particles. The M1 transitions are mediated by spin-dependent interactions between dark matter and nuclei. We assume that the dark matter consists mainly of photinos, and show that the expected rate is of the order of 1 event/kg/d for the excitation of nuclear magnetic states accompanied also by a recoiling nucleus. The de-excitation decay that follows, ∼ (ms−μs), might later be observed as electromagnetic radiation in the GHz region in future, more sensitive, microwave devices. Secondly, we propose to utilize liquid-xenon detectors for measuring the energy of the recoiling nucleus, either through the Xe odd-isotopes or through other mixed atoms, such as hydrogen, with lowest masses. Furthermore the mass scale of these calorimeters (1–100 t) gives a greatly improved sensitivity for dark-matter detection compared with other conventional systems.