Indirect detection of low mass dark matter in direct detection experiments with inelastic scattering

Abstract

We revisit the detection of luminous dark matter in direct detection experiments. In this scenario, dark matter scatters endothermically to produce an excited state, which decays to produce a photon. We explore ways in which the electron recoil signal from the decay photon can be differentiated from other potential electron recoil signals with a narrow spectral shape. We find that larger volume/exposure xenon detectors will be unable to differentiate the signal origin without significant improvements in detector energy resolution of around an order of magnitude. We also explore what can be learned about a generic luminous dark matter signal with a higher resolution detector. Motivated by the..