Reconstructing Dark Matter Mass and Discriminating Standard and Non-Standard WIMP-Nucleus Interactions with Paleo-Detectors

Paleo-detectors preserve crystal damage from nuclear recoils caused by dark matter scattering over geological times. Previous work showed their sensitivity to various dark matter scenarios complements conventional direct-detection experiments. This paper presents the first detailed study of how well paleo-detectors can reconstruct dark matter parameters and distinguish between interaction types when a signal is present, considering both elastic and inelastic dark matter-nucleus scattering.

Using representative nuclear recoil track read-out scenarios, the authors examined a range of Non-Relativistic Effective Field Theory (NREFT) interactions. They find that paleo-detectors could reconstruct WIMP masses below about 10 GeV—a regime where conventional experiments struggle—and could reconstruct masses up to 1 TeV for hypothetical signals within their accessible parameter space. This extends the mass range by up to a factor of ~2 compared with analogous studies of conventional direct-detection experiments.

The study also shows paleo-detectors could discriminate between canonical spin-independent/spin-dependent NREFT interactions and non-canonical interactions that depend on relative velocity or momentum transfer. For WIMP masses above ~10 GeV, canonical interactions could be excluded for nearly all non-canonical cases without the need for nuclear recoil direction measurement, which conventional experiments typically require. These results strengthen the case for paleo-detectors as a complementary dark matter search tool.