Neutrino coherent scattering rates at direct dark matter detectors

Abstract

Neutrino-induced recoil events may constitute a background to direct dark matter searches, particularly for those detectors that strive to reach the ton-scale and beyond. This paper discusses the expected neutrino-induced background spectrum due to several of the most important sources, including solar, atmospheric, and diffuse supernova neutrinos. The largest rate arises from 8B produced solar neutrinos, providing upwards of ∼103 events per ton-year over all recoil energies for the heaviest nuclear targets. However the majority of these 8B events are expected to be below the recoil threshold of modern detectors. The remaining neutrino sources are found to constitute a background to the weakly interacting massive particles (WIMP)-induced recoil rate only if the WIMP-nucleon cross section is less than 10-12 pb. Finally the sensitivity to the diffuse supernova neutrino flux for non-electron neutrino flavors is discussed, and projected flux limits are compared with existing flux limits. © IOP Publishing Ltd and Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft.