Sensitivity to low-mass WIMPs with an improved liquid argon ionization response model within the DarkSide programme
Abstract
Dark matter detection experiments using liquid argon rely on a precise characterization of the ionization response to nuclear recoils, especially in the keV energy range relevant for light dark matter interactions. In this work, we present a comprehensive analysis that combines new measurements from the ReD setup, part of the DarkSide experimental program, with calibration data from DarkSide-50, as well as results from the ARIS and SCENE experiments. These combined datasets enable improved constraints on atomic screening effects in the modeling of the ionization response of liquid argon to nuclear recoils. The analysis is performed within the Thomas-Imel recombination framework adopted in previous DarkSide studies, and is here further constrained by the inclusion of ReD data, which allow the screening function to be determined from calibration measurements. By including the updated ionization model into the DarkSide-50 analysis framework, we obtain stronger exclusion limits on low-mass WIMP interactions, setting new world-leading constraints in the 1-3 GeV/c^2 WIMP mass range. Finally, we recast the sensitivity projections for the upcoming DarkSide-20k detector, demonstrating a significantly enhanced discovery potential for low-mass dark matter candidates.
Cite
@article{arxiv.2511.13629,
title = {Sensitivity to low-mass WIMPs with an improved liquid argon ionization response model within the DarkSide programme},
author = {F. Acerbi and P. Adhikari and P. Agnes and I. Ahmad and S. Albergo and I. F. Albuquerque and T. Alexander and A. K. Alton and P. Amaudruz and M. Angiolilli and E. Aprile and M. Atzori Corona and D. J. Auty and M. Ave and I. C. Avetisov and O. Azzolini and H. O. Back and Z. Balmforth and A. I. Barrado Olmedo and P. Barrillon and G. Batignani and S. Bharat and P. Bhowmick and S. Blua and V. Bocci and W. Bonivento and B. Bottino and M. G. Boulay and T. Braun and A. Buchowicz and S. Bussino and J. Busto and M. Cadeddu and R. Calabrese and V. Camillo and A. Caminata and N. Canci and M. Caravati and M. Cárdenas-Montes and N. Cargioli and M. Carlini and P. Cavalcante and S. Cebrian and S. Chashin and A. Chepurnov and S. Choudhary and L. Cifarelli and B. Cleveland and Y. Coadou and I. Coarasa and V. Cocco and E. Conde Vilda and L. Consiglio and A. F. V. Cortez and B. S. Costa and M. Czubak and S. D'Auria and M. D. Da Rocha Rolo and A. Dainty and G. Darbo and S. Davini and R. de Asmundis and S. De Cecco and M. De Napoli and G. Dellacasa and A. V. Derbin and L. Di Noto and P. Di Stefano and L. K. Dias and D. Díaz Mairena and C. Dionisi and G. Dolganov and F. Dordei and V. Dronik and A. Elersich and T. Erjavec and N. Fearon and M. Fernández Díaz and L. Ferro and A. Ficorella and G. Fiorillo and D. Fleming and P. Franchini and D. Franco and H. Frandini Gatti and E. Frolov and F. Gabriele and D. Gahan and C. Galbiati and G. Galiński and G. Gallina and M. Garbini and P. Garcia Abia and A. Gawdzik and G. K. Giovanetti and V. Goicoechea Casanueva and A. Gola and L. Grandi and G. Grauso and G. Grilli di Cortona and A. Grobov and M. Gromov and J. Guerrero Cánovas and M. Gulino and B. R. Hackett and A. L. Hallin and M. Haranczyk and B. Harrop and T. Hessel and C. Hidalgo and J. Hollingham and J. Hu and F. Hubaut and D. Huff and T. Hugues and E. V. Hungerford and An. Ianni and V. Ippolito and A. Jamil and C. Jillings and R. Keloth and N. Kemmerich and M. Kimura and A. Klenin and K. Kondo and G. Korga and L. Kotsiopoulou and S. Koulosousas and A. Kubankin and P. Kunzé and M. Kuss and M. Kuźniak and M. Kuzwa and M. La Commara and M. Lai and E. Le Guirriec and E. Leason and A. Leoni and L. Lidey and J. Lipp and M. Lissia and L. Luzzi and O. Lychagina and O. Macfadyen and I. Machts and I. N. Machulin and S. Manecki and I. Manthos and L. Mapelli and A. Marasciulli and S. M. Mari and C. Mariani and J. Maricic and M. Martinez and C. J. Martoff and G. Matteucci and K. Mavrokoridis and A. B. McDonald and S. Merzi and A. Messina and R. Milincic and S. Minutoli and A. Mitra and J. Monroe and M. Morrocchi and A. Morsy and V. N. Muratova and M. Murra and P. Musico and R. Nania and M. Nessi and G. Nieradka and K. Nikolopoulos and E. Nikoloudaki and I. Nikulin and J. Nowak and K. Olchanski and A. Oleinik and V. Oleynikov and P. Organtini and A. Ortiz de Solórzano and A. Padmanabhan and M. Pallavicini and L. Pandola and E. Pantic and E. Paoloni and D. Papi and B. Park and G. Pastuszak and G. Paternoster and R. Pavarani and A. Peck and K. Pelczar and R. Perez and V. Pesudo and S. Piacentini and N. Pino and G. Plante and A. Pocar and S. Pordes and P. Pralavorio and E. Preosti and D. Price and M. Pronesti and S. Puglia and M. Queiroga Bazetto and F. Raffaelli and F. Ragusa and Y. Ramachers and A. Ramirez and S. Ravinthiran and M. Razeti and A. L. Renshaw and A. Repond and M. Rescigno and S. Resconi and F. Retiere and L. P. Rignanese and A. Ritchie-Yates and A. Rivetti and A. Roberts and C. Roberts and G. Rogers and L. Romero and M. Rossi and D. Rudik and J. Runge and M. A. Sabia and D. Sablone and P. Salomone and O. Samoylov and S. Sanfilippo and D. Santone and R. Santorelli and E. M. Santos and I. Sargeant and M. L. Sarsa and C. Savarese and E. Scapparone and F. G. Schuckman and D. A. Semenov and C. Seoane and M. Sestu and V. Shalamova and S. Sharma Poudel and A. Sheshukov and M. Simeone and P. Skensved and M. D. Skorokhvatov and O. Smirnov and T. Smirnova and B. Smith and F. Spadoni and M. Spangenberg and A. Steri and V. Stornelli and S. Stracka and A. Sung and C. Sunny and Y. Suvorov and A. M. Szelc and O. Taborda and R. Tartaglia and A. Taylor and J. Taylor and G. Testera and K. Thieme and A. Thompson and S. Torres-Lara and A. Tricomi and S. Tullio and E. V. Unzhakov and M. Van Uffelen and P. Ventura and G. Vera Díaz and S. Viel and A. Vishneva and R. B. Vogelaar and J. Vossebeld and B. Vyas and M. Wada and M. Walczak and Y. Wang and S. Westerdale and L. Williams and M. M. Wojcik and M. Wojcik and C. Yang and J. Yin and A. Zabihi and P. Zakhary and A. Zani and Y. Zhang and T. Zhu and A. Zichichi and G. Zuzel and M. P. Zykova},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2511.13629},
year = {2026}
}
Comments
10 pages, 8 figures, 1 table