Probing Supernova Neutrino Boosted Dark Matter with Collective Excitation

Abstract

We explore the supernova neutrino-boosted dark matter (SN$\nu$BDM) and its direct detection. During core-collapse supernovae, an abundance of neutrinos are emitted. These supernova neutrinos can transfer their kinetic energy to the light dark matter via their interactions, and thus are detected in the neutrino and dark matter experiments. Due to the exponential suppression of the high-energy neutrino flux, the kinetic energy carried by a large portion of SN$\nu$BDM falls within the MeV range. This could potentially produce the collective excitation signals in the semiconductor detectors with the skipper-CCD. We calculate the plasmon excitation rate induced by SN$\nu$BDM and derive the exclusion limits. In contrast with conventional neutrino and dark matter direct detection experiments, our results present a significant enhancement in sensitivity for the sub-MeV dark matter.