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Sub-GeV dark matter from cosmic ray bremsstrahlung in the atmosphere

Branden Aitken1,*, Peter Reimitz1,2,†, and Adam Ritz1,‡

  • *Contact author: brandenaitken@uvic.ca
  • †Contact author: peter@if.usp.br
  • ‡Contact author: aritz@uvic.ca
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Phys. Rev. D 114, 035041 – Published 26 August, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/qthl-2677

Abstract

We explore the sensitivity of neutrino observatories and direct dark matter detection experiments to boosted sub-GeV dark matter produced by inelastic cosmic ray collisions in the atmosphere. We revisit earlier approaches and extend the sensitivity to higher mass by modeling the proton bremsstrahlung production mode via initial state radiation. For vector-mediated dark matter models, the peak of the cosmic ray flux allows for enhanced DM production for mediator masses near the ρ/ω resonances. We determine and compare the ensuing sensitivity of direct detection experiments LZ and PandaX-4T and the neutrino detectors Borexino and Super-K.

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Phys. Rev. D 114, 035041– Published 26 August, 2026
  • Received 15 May 2026
  • Accepted 11 August 2026
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Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article’s title, journal citation, and DOI. Funded by SCOAP3.

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