Probing large mass-splitting inelastic Dark Matter with RES-NOVA
Abstract
Probing inelastic dark matter at large mass splittings requires heavy target nuclei, an extended recoil-energy range, and the high-velocity tail of the dark-matter distribution. We exploit these features with the RES-NOVA prototype detector, featuring a PbWO4 cryogenic calorimeter, produced from archaeological Pb and operated at the deep-underground laboratory of Gran Sasso of INFN (Italy), analyzing a 32.4 g day exposure over 2.5 keV - 1 MeV under both the Standard Halo Model (SHM) and a Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC)-motivated velocity distribution. We extend direct-detection constraints beyond the 330 keV reach of established technologies (e.g. Xe-based TPCs), probing splittings up to 510 (780) keV in the SHM (LMC) benchmark, while future exposures will probe new regions of the parameter space.
Cite
@article{arxiv.2607.18378,
title = {Probing large mass-splitting inelastic Dark Matter with RES-NOVA},
author = {D. Alloni and G. Benato and P. Carniti and M. Cataldo and L. Chen and M. Clemenza and M. Consonni and G. Croci and I. Dafinei and F. A. Danevich and C. de Vecchi and D. Di Martino and R. Elleboro and N. Ferreiro Iachellini and F. Ferroni and F. Filippini and S. Ghislandi and A. Giachero and L. Gironi and P. Gorla and C. Gotti and D. L. Helis and D. V. Kasperovych and V. V. Kobychev and G. Marcucci and A. Melchiorre and A. Menegolli and S. Nisi and M. Musa and L. Pagnanini and L. Pattavina and G. Pessina and S. Pirro and S. Pozzi and M. C. Prata and A. Puiu and S. Quitadamo and M. P. Riccardi and M. Rossella and R. Rossini and E. Sala and F. Saliu and A. Salvini and V. I. Tretyak and L. Trombetta and D. Trotta and H. Yuan and J. Luengas and H. Ramani},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2607.18378},
year = {2026}
}