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Sensitivity to low-mass WIMPs with an improved liquid argon ionization response model within the DarkSide program

F. Acerbi1, P. Adhikari2, P. Agnes3,4, I. Ahmad5, S. Albergo6,7, I. F. Albuquerque8, T. Alexander9, A. K. Alton10, P. Amaudruz11 et al. (DarkSide-50 and DarkSide-20k Collaboration)

P. Amaudruz11, M. Angiolilli3,4, E. Aprile12, M. Atzori Corona13,14, D. J. Auty15, M. Ave3, I. C. Avetisov16, O. Azzolini17, H. O. Back9, Z. Balmforth18, A. I. Barrado Olmedo19, P. Barrillon20, G. Batignani21,22, S. Bharat23, P. Bhowmick24, S. Blua25,26, V. Bocci27, W. Bonivento13, B. Bottino28,29, M. G. Boulay2, T. Braun24, A. Buchowicz30, S. Bussino31,32, J. Busto20, M. Cadeddu13, R. Calabrese33,34, V. Camillo35, A. Caminata29, N. Canci34, M. Caravati3,4,13, M. Cárdenas-Montes19, N. Cargioli13,14, M. Carlini4, P. Cavalcante4, S. Cebrian23, S. Chashin36, A. Chepurnov36, S. Choudhary5, L. Cifarelli37,38, B. Cleveland39,40, Y. Coadou20, I. Coarasa23, V. Cocco13, E. Conde Vilda19, L. Consiglio4, A. F. V. Cortez5, B. S. Costa8, M. Czubak41, S. D’Auria42,43, M. D. Da Rocha Rolo25, A. Dainty44, G. Darbo29, S. Davini29, R. de Asmundis34, S. De Cecco45,27, M. De Napoli6, G. Dellacasa25, A. V. Derbin46, L. Di Noto28,29, P. Di Stefano47, L. K. Dias8, D. Díaz Mairena19, C. Dionisi45,27, G. Dolganov48,49, F. Dordei13, V. Dronik50, A. Elersich51, T. Erjavec51, N. Fearon24, M. Fernández Díaz19, L. Ferro14,13, A. Ficorella1, G. Fiorillo33,34, D. Fleming51, P. Franchini24, D. Franco52, H. Frandini Gatti53, E. Frolov54, F. Gabriele13, D. Gahan13,14, C. Galbiati55, G. Galiński30, G. Gallina55, M. Garbini56,38, P. Garcia Abia19, A. Gawdzik57, G. K. Giovanetti58, V. Goicoechea Casanueva59, A. Gola1, L. Grandi60, G. Grauso34, G. Grilli di Cortona4, A. Grobov48, M. Gromov36, J. Guerrero Cánovas19, M. Gulino61,62, B. R. Hackett9, A. L. Hallin15, M. Haranczyk41, B. Harrop55, T. Hessel52, C. Hidalgo3, J. Hollingham44, S. Horikawa59, J. Hu15, F. Hubaut20, D. Huff63, T. Hugues47, E. V. Hungerford63, An. Ianni55, V. Ippolito27, A. Jamil55, C. Jillings39,40, R. Keloth35, N. Kemmerich8, A. Kemp64, M. Kimura5, A. Klenin50, K. Kondo4,65, G. Korga66, L. Kotsiopoulou67, S. Koulosousas66, A. Kubankin50, P. Kunzé3,4, M. Kuss22, M. Kuźniak5, M. Kuzwa5, M. La Commara68,34, M. Lai69, E. Le Guirriec20, E. Leason24, A. Leoni4,65, L. Lidey9, J. Lipp44, M. Lissia13, L. Luzzi51, O. Lychagina70, O. Macfadyen66, I. Machts52, I. N. Machulin48,49, S. Manecki39,40, I. Manthos18, L. Mapelli55, A. Marasciulli4, S. M. Mari31,32, C. Mariani35, J. Maricic59, M. Martinez23, C. J. Martoff71,9, G. Matteucci33,34, K. Mavrokoridis53, A. B. McDonald47, S. Merzi1, A. Messina45,27, R. Milincic59, S. Minutoli29, A. Mitra72, J. Monroe24, M. Morrocchi21,22, A. Morsy73, V. N. Muratova46, M. Murra12, P. Musico29, R. Nania38, M. Nessi74, G. Nieradka5, K. Nikolopoulos18, E. Nikoloudaki52, I. Nikulin50, J. Nowak75, K. Olchanski11, A. Oleinik50, V. Oleynikov54, P. Organtini4,55, A. Ortiz de Solórzano23, A. Padmanabhan47, M. Pallavicini28,29, L. Pandola61, E. Pantic51, E. Paoloni21,22, D. Papi15, B. Park15, G. Pastuszak30, G. Paternoster1, R. Pavarani14,13, A. Peck69, K. Pelczar41, R. Perez8, V. Pesudo19, S. Piacentini3,4, N. Pino61, G. Plante12, A. Pocar73, S. Pordes35, P. Pralavorio20, E. Preosti55, D. Price57, M. Pronesti20, S. Puglia6,7, M. Queiroga Bazetto53, F. Raffaelli22, F. Ragusa42,43, Y. Ramachers72, A. Ramirez63, S. Ravinthiran53, M. Razeti13, A. L. Renshaw63, A. Repond69, M. Rescigno27, S. Resconi43, F. Retiere11, L. P. Rignanese38, A. Ritchie-Yates57, A. Rivetti25, A. Roberts53, C. Roberts57, G. Rogers76, L. Romero19, M. Rossi29, D. Rudik33,34,49, J. Runge73, M. A. Sabia45,27,5, D. Sablone71, P. Salomone4,5, O. Samoylov70, S. Sanfilippo61, D. Santone24, R. Santorelli19, E. M. Santos8, I. Sargeant64, M. L. Sarsa23, C. Savarese77, E. Scapparone38, F. G. Schuckman47, D. A. Semenov46, C. Seoane23, M. Sestu14,13, V. Shalamova69, S. Sharma Poudel63, A. Sheshukov70, M. Simeone78,34, P. Skensved47, M. D. Skorokhvatov48,49, O. Smirnov70, T. Smirnova69, B. Smith11, F. Spadoni9, M. Spangenberg72, A. Steri13,79, V. Stornelli4,65, S. Stracka22, A. Sung55, C. Sunny5, Y. Suvorov33,34,48, A. M. Szelc67, O. Taborda3,4, R. Tartaglia4, A. Taylor53, J. Taylor53, G. Testera29, K. Thieme59, A. Thompson66, S. Torres-Lara63, A. Tricomi6,7, S. Tullio14,13, E. V. Unzhakov46, M. Van Uffelen24, P. Ventura8, G. Vera Díaz19, S. Viel2, A. Vishneva70, R. B. Vogelaar35, J. Vossebeld53, B. Vyas2, M. Wada5, M. Walczak3,4, Y. Wang80,81, S. Westerdale69, L. Williams82, M. M. Wojcik41, M. Wojcik83, C. Yang80,81, J. Yin80,81, A. Zabihi5, P. Zakhary6,7, A. Zani43, Y. Zhang80, T. Zhu51, A. Zichichi37,38, G. Zuzel41, and M. P. Zykova16 (DarkSide-50 and DarkSide-20k Collaboration)

  • 1Fondazione Bruno Kessler, Povo 38123, Italy
  • 2Department of Physics, Carleton University, Ottawa, ON K1S 5B6, Canada
  • 3Gran Sasso Science Institute, L’Aquila 67100, Italy
  • 4INFN Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso, Assergi (AQ) 67100, Italy
  • 5AstroCeNT, Nicolaus Copernicus Astronomical Center of the Polish Academy of Sciences, 00-614 Warsaw, Poland
  • 6Università of Catania, Catania 95124, Italy
  • 7INFN Catania, Catania 95121, Italy
  • 8Instituto de Física, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo 05508-090, Brazil
  • 9Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, Washington 99352, USA
  • 10Physics Department, Augustana University, Sioux Falls, South Dakota 57197, USA
  • 11TRIUMF, 4004 Wesbrook Mall, Vancouver, BC V6T2A3, Canada
  • 12Physics Department, Columbia University, New York, New York 10027, USA
  • 13INFN Cagliari, Cagliari 09042, Italy
  • 14Physics Department, Università degli Studi di Cagliari, Cagliari 09042, Italy
  • 15Department of Physics, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 2R3, Canada
  • 16Mendeleev University of Chemical Technology, Moscow 125047, Russia
  • 17INFN Laboratori Nazionali di Legnaro, Legnaro (Padova) 35020, Italy
  • 18Institute of Experimental Physics, University of Hamburg, Luruper Chaussee 149, 22761, Hamburg, Germany
  • 19CIEMAT, Centro de Investigaciones Energéticas, Medioambientales y Tecnológicas, Madrid 28040, Spain
  • 20Centre de Physique des Particules de Marseille, Aix Marseille Univ, CNRS/IN2P3, CPPM, Marseille, France
  • 21Physics Department, Università degli Studi di Pisa, Pisa 56127, Italy
  • 22INFN Pisa, Pisa 56127, Italy
  • 23Centro de Astropartículas y Física de Altas Energías, Universidad de Zaragoza, Zaragoza 50009, Spain
  • 24University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 2JD, United Kingdom
  • 25INFN Torino, Torino 10125, Italy
  • 26Department of Electronics and Communications, Politecnico di Torino, Torino 10129, Italy
  • 27INFN Sezione di Roma, Roma 00185, Italy
  • 28Physics Department, Università degli Studi di Genova, Genova 16146, Italy
  • 29INFN Genova, Genova 16146, Italy
  • 30Institute of Radioelectronics and Multimedia Technology, Faculty of Electronics and Information Technology, Warsaw University of Technology, 00-661 Warsaw, Poland
  • 31INFN Roma Tre, Roma 00146, Italy
  • 32Mathematics and Physics Department, Università degli Studi Roma Tre, Roma 00146, Italy
  • 33Physics Department, Università degli Studi “Federico II” di Napoli, Napoli 80126, Italy
  • 34INFN Napoli, Napoli 80126, Italy
  • 35Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Virginia 24061, USA
  • 36Skobeltsyn Institute of Nuclear Physics, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow 119234, Russia
  • 37Physics Department, Università degli Studi di Bologna, Bologna 40126, Italy
  • 38INFN Bologna, Bologna 40126, Italy
  • 39Department of Physics and Astronomy, Laurentian University, Sudbury, ON P3E 2C6, Canada
  • 40SNOLAB, Lively, ON P3Y 1N2, Canada
  • 41M. Smoluchowski Institute of Physics, Jagiellonian University, 30-348 Krakow, Poland
  • 42Physics Department, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milano 20133, Italy
  • 43INFN Milano, Milano 20133, Italy
  • 44Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Technology, Harwell Oxford, Didcot OX11 0QX, United Kingdom
  • 45Physics Department, Sapienza Università di Roma, Roma 00185, Italy
  • 46Saint Petersburg Nuclear Physics Institute, Gatchina 188350, Russia
  • 47Department of Physics, Engineering Physics and Astronomy, QueenÕs University, Kingston, ON K7L 3N6, Canada
  • 48National Research Centre Kurchatov Institute, Moscow 123182, Russia
  • 49National Research Nuclear University MEPhI, Moscow 115409, Russia
  • 50Radiation Physics Laboratory, Belgorod National Research University, Belgorod 308007, Russia
  • 51Department of Physics, University of California, Davis, California 95616, USA
  • 52APC, Université de Paris Cité, CNRS, Astroparticule et Cosmologie, Paris F-75013, France
  • 53Department of Physics, University of Liverpool, The Oliver Lodge Laboratory, Liverpool L69 7ZE, United Kingdom
  • 54Budker Institute of Nuclear Physics, Novosibirsk 630090, Russia
  • 55Physics Department, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey 08544, USA
  • 56Museo Storico della Fisica e Centro Studi e Ricerche Enrico Fermi, Roma 00184, Italy
  • 57The University of Manchester, Manchester M13 9PL, United Kingdom
  • 58Williams College, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Williamstown, Massachusetts 01267, USA
  • 59Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Hawai’i, Honolulu, Hawai’i 96822, USA
  • 60Department of Physics and Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60637, USA
  • 61INFN Laboratori Nazionali del Sud, Catania 95123, Italy
  • 62Engineering and Architecture Faculty, Università di Enna Kore, Enna 94100, Italy
  • 63Department of Physics, University of Houston, Houston, Texas 77204, USA
  • 64Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Particle Physics Department, Harwell Oxford, Didcot OX11 0QX, United Kingdom
  • 65Università degli Studi dell’Aquila, L’Aquila 67100, Italy
  • 66Department of Physics, Royal Holloway University of London, Egham TW20 0EX, United Kingdom
  • 67School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH9 3FD, United Kingdom
  • 68Pharmacy Department, Università degli Studi “Federico II” di Napoli, Napoli 80131, Italy
  • 69Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of California, Riverside, California 92507, USA
  • 70Joint Institute for Nuclear Research, Dubna 141980, Russia
  • 71Physics Department, Temple University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19122, USA
  • 72University of Warwick, Department of Physics, Coventry CV47AL, United Kingdom
  • 73Amherst Center for Fundamental Interactions and Physics Department, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts 01003, USA
  • 74Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Roma 00186, Italia
  • 75Physics Department, Lancaster University, Lancaster LA1 4YB, United Kingdom
  • 76School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, B15 2TT, Birmingham, United Kingdom
  • 77Center for Experimental Nuclear Physics and Astrophysics, and Department of Physics, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195, USA
  • 78Chemical, Materials, and Industrial Production Engineering Department, Università degli Studi “Federico II” di Napoli, Napoli 80126, Italy
  • 79Department of Mechanical, Chemical, and Materials Engineering, Università degli Studi, Cagliari 09042, Italy
  • 80Institute of High Energy Physics, Beijing 100049, China
  • 81University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
  • 82Department of Physics and Engineering, Fort Lewis College, Durango, Colorado 81301, USA
  • 83Institute of Applied Radiation Chemistry, Lodz University of Technology, 93-590 Lodz, Poland

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Phys. Rev. D 113, 123045 – Published 17 June, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/x3vt-q676

Abstract

Dark matter detection experiments using liquid argon rely on a precise characterization of the ionization response to nuclear recoils, especially in the keV energy range relevant for light dark matter interactions. In this work, we present a comprehensive analysis that combines new measurements from the ReD setup, part of the DarkSide experimental program, with calibration data from DarkSide-50, as well as results from the ARIS and SCENE experiments. These combined datasets enable improved constraints on atomic screening effects in the modeling of the ionization response of liquid argon to nuclear recoils. The analysis is performed within the Thomas-Imel recombination framework adopted in previous DarkSide studies, and is here further constrained by the inclusion of ReD data, which allow the screening function to be determined from calibration measurements. By including the updated ionization model into the DarkSide-50 analysis framework, we obtain stronger exclusion limits on low-mass weakly interacting massive particle (WIMP) interactions, setting new world-leading constraints in the 1–3  GeV/c2 WIMP mass range. Finally, we recast the sensitivity projections for the upcoming DarkSide-20k detector, demonstrating a significantly enhanced discovery potential for low-mass dark matter candidates.

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Phys. Rev. D 113, 123045– Published 17 June, 2026
  • Received 18 November 2025
  • Revised 27 January 2026
  • Accepted 13 May 2026
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