Direct Detection of Light Self-Interacting Dark Matter via Electronic Collective Excitations

Wen-Na Yang; Wu-Long Xu; Wenyu Wang; Ning Liu

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arXiv · 2608.01305

Direct Detection of Light Self-Interacting Dark Matter via Electronic Collective Excitations

Wen-Na Yang·Wu-Long Xu·Wenyu Wang·Ning Liu

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Abstract

Models of light dark matter often invoke a light mediator to facilitate interactions with the Standard Model. If sufficiently light, this mediator can induce long-range self-interactions among dark matter particles, offering a compelling resolution to small-scale structure anomalies. However, direct detection of light self-interacting dark matter (SIDM) remains challenging for conventional detectors. In this work, we investigate the sensitivity of searches for light SIDM accelerated by high-energy cosmic rays in silicon detectors. Leveraging the electronic collective excitations, we derive 90\% C.L. exclusion limits using public SENSEI and DAMIC-M ionization data. Our constraints can cover a portion of the light SIDM parameter space favored by galactic small-scale anomalies.

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Wen-Na Yang, Wu-Long Xu, Wenyu Wang, Ning Liu. 2026-08-02. Direct Detection of Light Self-Interacting Dark Matter via Electronic Collective Excitations. https://arxiv.org/abs/2608.01305

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