{"paper":{"title":"Calorimetric approach to paleo-detection of dark matter","license":"http://arxiv.org/licenses/nonexclusive-distrib/1.0/","headline":"Combining track lengths with lattice vacancy counts in mineral samples lets paleo-detectors distinguish dark matter recoils from neutron backgrounds and reach cross-section sensitivities of order 10^{-48} cm^{2}.","cross_cats":["astro-ph.CO","hep-ex"],"primary_cat":"hep-ph","authors_text":"Patrick Huber, Samuel Hedges","submitted_at":"2026-05-13T15:17:54Z","abstract_excerpt":"We present the first paleo-detector dark matter sensitivity analysis based on a calorimetric readout, in which the number of stable lattice vacancies produced by each nuclear recoil is used as a per-event observable complementary to the track length. Using full-cascade SRIM simulations in olivine, we compute the expected sensitivity for a 100 gGyr exposure. We find that a vacancy-only readout reaches a sensitivity envelope very similar to that of state-of-the-art track-only analyses. The combination of the two observables provides an event-by-event proxy for |dE/dx| and hence for the recoiling"},"claims":{"count":4,"items":[{"kind":"strongest_claim","text":"The combined-analysis sensitivity reaches spin-independent dark-matter--nucleon cross sections of order 10^{-48} cm² at WIMP masses of a few tens of GeV, comparable to future direct detection experiments.","source":"verdict.strongest_claim","status":"machine_extracted","claim_id":"C1","attestation":"unclaimed"},{"kind":"weakest_assumption","text":"That full-cascade SRIM simulations accurately predict the number of stable lattice vacancies produced by each nuclear recoil in olivine and that these vacancies can be measured as a reliable per-event observable complementary to track length.","source":"verdict.weakest_assumption","status":"machine_extracted","claim_id":"C2","attestation":"unclaimed"},{"kind":"one_line_summary","text":"A vacancy-counting calorimetric readout in paleo-detectors provides an event-by-event proxy for nuclear recoil species, suppressing neutron backgrounds and achieving spin-independent dark matter sensitivities of order 10^{-48} cm² at WIMP masses of tens of GeV.","source":"verdict.one_line_summary","status":"machine_extracted","claim_id":"C3","attestation":"unclaimed"},{"kind":"headline","text":"Combining track lengths with lattice vacancy counts in mineral samples lets paleo-detectors distinguish dark matter recoils from neutron backgrounds and reach cross-section sensitivities of order 10^{-48} cm^{2}.","source":"verdict.pith_extraction.headline","status":"machine_extracted","claim_id":"C4","attestation":"unclaimed"}],"snapshot_sha256":"e841942281fca35efbcdc29a7a8c8ff5016a49203243b0e6df22d243de508b01"},"source":{"id":"2605.13659","kind":"arxiv","version":1},"verdict":{"id":"e5ff9b84-3109-4e45-936b-4c0e91b2e424","model_set":{"reader":"grok-4.3"},"created_at":"2026-05-14T17:54:03.389554Z","strongest_claim":"The combined-analysis sensitivity reaches spin-independent dark-matter--nucleon cross sections of order 10^{-48} cm² at WIMP masses of a few tens of GeV, comparable to future direct detection experiments.","one_line_summary":"A vacancy-counting calorimetric readout in paleo-detectors provides an event-by-event proxy for nuclear recoil species, suppressing neutron backgrounds and achieving spin-independent dark matter sensitivities of order 10^{-48} cm² at WIMP masses of tens of GeV.","pipeline_version":"pith-pipeline@v0.9.0","weakest_assumption":"That full-cascade SRIM simulations accurately predict the number of stable lattice vacancies produced by each nuclear recoil in olivine and that these vacancies can be measured as a reliable per-event observable complementary to track length.","pith_extraction_headline":"Combining track lengths with lattice vacancy counts in mineral samples lets paleo-detectors distinguish dark matter recoils from neutron backgrounds and reach cross-section sensitivities of order 10^{-48} cm^{2}."},"references":{"count":43,"sample":[{"doi":"","year":1963,"title":"Fossil tracks of charged particles in mica and the age of minerals,","work_id":"b1a00d2a-d786-4433-b97f-5b6ca2938a07","ref_index":2,"cited_arxiv_id":"","is_internal_anchor":false},{"doi":"","year":1992,"title":"G. A. Wagner and P. Van den haute,Fission Track Dating(Ferdinand Enke Verlag, Stuttgart, 1992)","work_id":"559dd325-0e44-4b73-a3df-9e419a3a10dd","ref_index":3,"cited_arxiv_id":"","is_internal_anchor":false},{"doi":"","year":2002,"title":"Fission track dating of phosphate minerals and the thermochronology of apatite,","work_id":"d53a6f4b-d2ce-4203-b541-ffd9736509f7","ref_index":4,"cited_arxiv_id":"","is_internal_anchor":false},{"doi":"","year":1969,"title":"Search for magnetic monopoles in deep ocean deposits,","work_id":"b8fcd53e-51c9-467c-a3ed-25afd97257ec","ref_index":5,"cited_arxiv_id":"","is_internal_anchor":false},{"doi":"","year":1986,"title":"Search for supermassive magnetic monopoles using mica crystals,","work_id":"528b78fa-9235-4262-9a0e-067c754ac6ce","ref_index":6,"cited_arxiv_id":"","is_internal_anchor":false}],"resolved_work":43,"snapshot_sha256":"272df6bdff51652cbedb25368c3597d0deba5db1339988318e1379a114022986","internal_anchors":5},"formal_canon":{"evidence_count":0,"snapshot_sha256":"258153158e38e3291e3d48162225fcdb2d5a3ed65a07baac614ab91432fd4f57"},"author_claims":{"count":0,"strong_count":0,"snapshot_sha256":"258153158e38e3291e3d48162225fcdb2d5a3ed65a07baac614ab91432fd4f57"},"builder_version":"pith-number-builder-2026-05-17-v1"}