Uncertainties in tellurium-based dark matter searches stemming from nuclear structure uncertainties
Daniel J. Heimsoth (Department of Physics, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin 53706, USA); Rebecca Kowalski (Department of Physics and Astronomy, The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland 21211, USA); Danielle H. Speller (Department of Physics and Astronomy, The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland 21211, USA); Calvin W. Johnson (Department of Physics, San Diego State University, San Diego, California 92182-1233, USA); A. Baha Balantekin (Department of Physics, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin 53706, USA); et al - Show all 6 authors
Using tellurium dioxide as a target, we calculate uncertainties on 90% upper confidence limits of Galilean effective field theory (Galilean EFT) couplings to a weakly interacting massive particle (WIMP) dark matter candidate due to uncertainties in nuclear shell models. We find that these uncertainties in naturally occurring tellurium isotopes are comparable across the different Galilean EFT couplings to uncertainties in xenon, with some reaching over 100%. We also consider the effect these nuclear uncertainties have on estimates of the annual modulation of dark matter from these searches, finding that the uncertainties in the modulation amplitude are proportional to the nonmodulating upper confidence limit uncertainties. We also show that the determination of the modulation phase is insensitive to changes in the nuclear model for a given isotope.
