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arXiv · 2601.13949

Mineral Detection of Cosmic-Ray Boosted Dark Matter

Jin-Wei Wang·Fei-Fei Li
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Abstract

We present the first dedicated analysis of cosmic-ray boosted dark matter (CRDM) in paleo detectors. Owing to their large kinetic energies, CRDM particles generate nuclear-recoil tracks that extend to substantially larger lengths than those produced by dominant backgrounds from neutrinos and intrinsic radioactivity. Combined with the ultra-large effective geological exposure of $\mathcal{O}(10^{5})~\mathrm{t\,yr}$, paleo detectors provide a uniquely sensitive probe of sub-GeV DM. Considering both constant and vector-mediator interactions, we find that paleo detectors improve the sensitivity to the DM--proton scattering cross section by one to two orders of magnitude compared with the latest XENONnT limits.

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Jin-Wei Wang, Fei-Fei Li. 2026-01-20. Mineral Detection of Cosmic-Ray Boosted Dark Matter. https://arxiv.org/abs/2601.13949

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