arXiv subjects

Matti Heikinheimo

Publications and source records attributed to Matti Heikinheimo.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Cosmic ray boosted dark matter with momentum dependent interactions can explain the LZ 248 keV event

The LZ experiment has recently reported an observation of a single event with characteristics of a nuclear recoil at a high recoil energy of 248 keV, where no background events are expected. We show that such nuclear recoil event could be caused by high velocity dark matter particles originating from interactions with energetic cosmic rays. We analyze the expected recoil spectrum due to cosmic ray boosted dark matter within the non-relativistic effective theory formalism, and show that momentum-dependent operators, such as $\mathcal{O}_6$ and $\mathcal{O}_{10}$, can produce a spectrum that peaks at the observed energy.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2026

Anisotropic electron scattering and Migdal effect in semiconductor detectors

Cryogenic semiconductor detectors are widely used in dark matter direct detection. Electronic excitations in these materials can be caused either by direct dark matter electron scattering events, or indirectly via dark matter nuclear scattering events. For nuclear scattering of light dark matter, the event rate is enhanced due to an inelastic process known as the Migdal effect. Both the electron recoils and the Migdal effect in semiconductors depend on the dielectric function of the target material via the so-called energy loss function (ELF). In the standard approach found in the literature, the ELF is approximated as isotropic to simplify the calculation of the event rate. We introduce a practical method for computing the event rate for a general anisotropic ELF. We find that the daily modulation of the Migdal rate arises solely due to the quadrupole component of the ELF, whereas in electron scattering all spherical harmonic components affect the rate. We apply the formalism to study the daily modulation in silicon and gallium arsenide detectors.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2026

Landau-Zener formula and resonant axion conversion in neutron star magnetospheres

We investigate the Landau-Zener description of resonant axion-photon conversion in neutron star magnetospheres. We find that this picture often fails for axion conversions to millimeter-to-optical band photons due to the characteristic resonance width exceeding the size of the conversion region. This comparison of scales yields a simple criterion for evaluating the validity of the Landau-Zener formula. We verify this criterion numerically, and show that when invalid, the Landau-Zener conversion probability may significantly deviate from the numerical result. In light of these findings, we revise constraints on axions from neutron star optical-band polarization searches.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2026

Freeze-in and Freeze-out in a Right-Handed Neutrino Extended MSSM with a Seesaw Mechanism

We investigate the possibility of saturating the relic density bound with light Higgsinos. When the minimal supersymmetric Standard Model is extended with right-handed neutrino superfields and the seesaw scale is very low, right-handed sneutrinos can be produced via the freeze-in mechanism. In such a case we can have essentially two independent sources for dark matter, the traditional freeze-out of Higgsinos and the freeze-in of right-handed sneutrinos. The heavier of these two will decay to the lighter species with a delay. We rule out such a scenario for all seesaw models as the lifetime of sterile neutrinos produced over-abundantly via Dodelson-Widrow mechanism exceeds the age of the universe and will contribute to the relic density.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2025

Fast numerical evaluation of dark matter direct detection event rates

The mathematical expression for the dark matter nuclear recoil event rate in a detector consists of a six dimensional integral over the velocity distribution of dark matter in the detector frame, and over the recoil momentum of the nucleus. While a significant part of this integral can be solved in closed form under traditional assumptions of the standard halo model and/or isotropic detector response, analysis of alternate assumptions is conventionally impeded by the inefficiency of multidimensional numerical integration methods. In this work we introduce a novel, fast and efficient algorithm for direct detection event rate computations. This algorithm takes advantage of a closed form expression for the Radon transform of three dimensional Zernike functions, which are used as basis functions for the velocity distribution. We demonstrate an implementation of this algorithm ZebraDM (https://github.com/sebsassi/zebradm), which is typically faster than an optimized numerical integration approach by a factor between $10^2$ and $10^4$.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2025

Spontaneous damage annealing reactions as a possible source of low energy excess in semiconductor detectors

In semiconductor detectors designed for capturing dark matter particles or neutrinos, when the detection threshold is constantly improved to increasingly low energies, an "excess" signal of apparent energy release events below a few hundred eV is observed in several different kinds of detectors. This becomes a big obstacle to the observation of actual dark matter signals, hindering the detectors' sensitivity for rare events in this energy range. Using atomistic simulations with a classical thermostat and a quantum thermal bath, we show that this kind of signal is consistent with energy release from long-term annealing events of complex defects that can be formed by any kind of nuclear recoil radiation events. Such energy releases are shown to have a very similar exponential dependence on energy release magnitudes as that observed in experiments. By detailed analysis of the annealing events, we show that crossing very low energy barriers can trigger larger energy releases in an avalanche-like effect. This explains why large energy release events can occur even down to cryogenic temperatures, where the significant migration of point defects in silicon is hardly ever possible.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2025

Axion Superradiance in Dipole Magnetic Fields of Pulsars

We consider constraints on the axion-photon coupling by superradiance due to a plasma instability in the magnetospheres of millisecond pulsars. We compute the growth rate of a superradiant axion cloud in a dipole magnetic field, and give a semi-analytical formula for the superradiance rate for the lowest state. By requiring the associated instability time to be longer than the characteristic age of the supermassive black-widow millisecond pulsar PSR J0952-0607, we examine the pulsar-timing array constraints on axions of mass $\sim 10^{-12}\text{ eV}$. We find that competitive axion bounds from plasma instabilities are unlikely unless a new high spin pulsar is discovered.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2025

Boosted Dark Matter Driven by Cosmic Rays and Diffuse Supernova Neutrinos

Direct detection of light dark matter can be significantly enhanced by up-scattering of dark matter with energetic particles in the cosmic ambient. This boosted dark matter flux can reach kinetic energies up to tens of MeV, while the typical kinetic energies of GeV mass dark matter particles in the Milky Way halo are of the order of keV. Dark matter boosted by energetic diffuse supernova background neutrinos can be detected only through nuclear or electron scattering in ground-based detectors requiring a non-zero interaction of dark matter with nucleon or electron, in addition to its interaction with neutrino. However, in the presence of dark matter-nucleon (electron) interaction, the scattering of dark matter with cosmic rays is unavoidable. Thus, we consider boosted dark matter resulting from diffuse supernova neutrinos as well as cosmic protons (electrons) considering both energy-dependent and energy-independent scattering cross-sections between dark matter and standard model particles. We explore this scenario in dark matter detectors such as XENONnT and neutrino detectors like Super-Kamiokande.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2024

Gravitational waves from $\rm{SU(}$$N$$\rm{)/Sp(}$$N$$\rm{)}$ composite Higgs models

We study possible strong first-order electroweak phase transitions in Composite Higgs models and we quantify the part of parameter space that can be probed with future gravitational Wave experiments. We focus on models where the Composite Higgs sector arises from underlying four-dimensional strongly interacting gauge theories with fermions, and where the Standard Model fermion masses are induced via linear mixing terms with composite fermions -- the so-called fermion partial compositeness framework. We perform our analysis for the general class of Composite Higgs models arising from $ N $ Weyl fermions in a pseudo-real representation of the new strongly interacting gauge group that dynamically triggers the global chiral symmetry breaking pattern $\rm{SU(}$$N$$\rm{)}\rightarrow \rm{Sp(}$$N$$\rm{)}$. The minimal model has $ N=4 $ and for $ N>4 $ the models feature complex scalar dark matter candidates arising as pseudo-Nambu-Goldstone bosons. We find a large number of points in the models parameter space which yield strong first-order electroweak phase transitions and identify the most important operators characterizing the strength of the phase transition. Almost all of these points are testable with future GW detectors such as LISA, Taiji, Tianqin, BBO, DECIGO and Ultimate-DECIGO.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2024

Probing the dark matter velocity distribution via daily modulation

We consider dark matter velocity distributions with an anisotropic component, and analyze how the velocity structure can be probed in a solid state ionization detector with no directional detection capability using a daily modulation effect due to the anisotropic response function of the target. We show that with an energy resolution of < 10 eV it is possible to identify the presence of an anisotropic component consistent with observations for sub-GeV dark matter, and that introduction of daily modulation information substantially improves the sensitivity in a narrow mass range.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2023

Anatomy of real intermediate state-subtraction scheme

We study the origin of the real intermediate state subtraction problem and compare its different solutions. We show that the ambiguity in subtraction schemes arises from the on-shell approximation for the 2-point functions that reduces the Schwinger-Dyson equations to the Boltzmann limit. We also suggest a new subtraction scheme which, unlike the earlier definitions, never leads to negative scattering rates. This scheme also quantifies the validity of the on-shell limit in terms of an effective one-particle weight function $R(Δ)$, where $Δ$ measures the region around the resonance associated with the real state.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2023

Vector dark matter in supercooled Higgs portal models

We consider extensions of the Standard Model by a hidden sector consisting of a gauge field coupled with a scalar field. Assuming the absence of dimensionful parameters in the tree level potential, radiative symmetry breaking will make the hidden sector gauge field massive and induce the electroweak scale of the Standard Model. We consider separately dark sector gauge groups $U(1)_{\rm{D}}$ and $SU(2)_{\rm{D}}$, and focus on probing the models with a combination of direct detection experiments and gravitational wave observatories. We find that recent dark matter direct detection results significantly constrain the parameter space of the models where they can account for the observed dark matter relic density via freeze-out. The gravitational wave signals originating from strongly first order electroweak phase transition in these models can be probed in future gravitational wave observatories such as the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna. We show how the projected results compliment direct detection experiments and can help probe parameter space near the neutrino floor of direct detection.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2023

Daily and annual modulation rate of low mass dark matter in silicon detectors

Low threshold detectors with single-electron excitation sensitivity to nuclear recoil events in solid-state detectors are also sensitive to the crystalline structure of the target and, therefore, to the recoil direction via the anisotropic energy threshold for defect creation in the detector material. We investigate this effect and the resulting daily and annual modulation of the observable event rate for dark matter mass range from 0.2 to 5 GeV/c$^{2}$ in a silicon detector. We show that the directional dependence of the threshold energy and the motion of the laboratory result in modulation of the event rate which can be utilized to enhance the sensitivity of the experiment. We demonstrate that the spin-independent interaction rate in silicon is significant for both high and low dark matter masses. For low-mass dark matter, we show that the average interaction rate in silicon is larger than germanium, making silicon an important target for identifying dark matter from backgrounds. We find 8 and 12 hours periodicity in the time series of event rates for silicon detector due to the 45-degree symmetry in the silicon crystal structure.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2022

Identification of the low energy excess in dark matter searches with crystal defects

An excess of events of unknown origin at low energies below 1 keV has been observed in multiple low-threshold dark matter detectors. Depending on the target material, nuclear recoil events at these energies may cause lattice defects, in which case a part of the true recoil energy is stored in the defect and not observed in the phonon detector. If the threshold for defect creation is sharp, this effect leads to a prominent feature in the observed recoil spectrum. Electronic recoils at low energies do not create defects and therefore the feature in the observed spectrum is not expected in that case. We propose to use the sharp defect creation threshold of diamond to test if the low energy events are due to nuclear recoils. Based on simulated data we expect the nuclear recoil bump in the observed spectrum to be visible in diamond with just ~0.1 gram days of exposure.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2022

Energy loss due to defect creation in solid state detectors

The threshold displacement energy in solid state detector materials varies from several eV to ~100 eV. If a stable or long lived defect is created as a result of a nuclear recoil event, some part of the recoil energy is stored in the deformed lattice and is therefore not observable in a phonon detector. Thus, an accurate model of this effect is necessary for precise calibration of the recoil energy measurement in low threshold phonon detectors. Furthermore, the sharpness of the defect creation threshold varies between materials. For a hard material such as diamond, the sharp threshold will cause a sudden onset of the energy loss effect, resulting in a prominent peak in the observed recoil spectrum just below the threshold displacement energy. We describe how this effect can be used to discriminate between nuclear and electron recoils using just the measured recoil spectrum.

physics.ins-det↗

arXiv2022

Anisotropic ionization threshold and directional sensitivity in solid state DM detectors

The threshold displacement energy for nuclear recoils depends strongly on the direction of the recoiling nucleus with respect to the crystal lattice. Assuming that similar dependence holds for the ionization threshold for low energy nuclear recoils, we explore the consequences of the resulting directional dependence of the observable event rate in ionization detectors. For low mass dark matter, this effect leads to a daily modulation in the event rate. We discuss how this effect can be utilized to separate the DM signal from the solar neutrino background and how the structure of the modulation signal can be used to identify the type of the DM-nucleon coupling.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2022

Energy loss in low energy nuclear recoils in dark matter detector materials

Recent progress in phonon-mediated detectors with eV-scale nuclear recoil energy sensitivity requires an understanding of the effect of the crystalline defects on the energy spectrum expected from dark matter or neutrino coherent scattering. We have performed molecular dynamics simulations to determine the amount of energy stored in the lattice defects as a function of the recoil direction and energy. This energy can not be observed in the phonon measurement, thus affecting the observed energy spectrum compared to the underlying true recoil energy spectrum. We describe this effect for multiple commonly used detector materials and demonstrate how the predicted energy spectrum from dark matter scattering is modified.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2022

Momentum distributions of cosmic relics: Improved analysis

We solve coupled momentum-dependent Boltzmann equations for the phase space distribution of cosmic relic particles, without resorting to approximations of assuming kinetic equilibrium or neglecting backscattering or elastic interactions. Our method is amendable to precision numerical computations. To test it, we consider two benchmark models where the momentum dependence of dark matter distribution function is potentially important: a real singlet scalar extension near the Higgs resonance and a sterile neutrino dark matter model with a singlet scalar mediator. The singlet scalar example shows that the kinetic equilibrium may hold surprisingly well even near sharp resonances. However, the integrated method may underestimate the relic density by up to 40% in extreme cases. In the sterile neutrino dark matter model, we studied how the inclusion of previously ignored elastic interactions and processes with initial state sterile neutrinos could affect the nonthermal nature of their resulting distributions. Here the effects turned out to be negligible, proving the robustness of the earlier predictions.

hep-ph↗