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arXiv · 2608.10761

Superfluid He-4 as Dark Matter Detectors

Zizhou Huang·Mihaela Parvu·Dmitry Budker·Ariel Zhitnitsky·Konstantin Zioutas
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Abstract

Superfluid helium-4 is an attractive medium for high-sensitivity detection of dark matter (DM) candidates (as well as other particles). There are several collaborations that have built and tested superfluid helium detectors, particularly focusing on the sub-GeV DM mass range. In this paper we discuss a novel idea for detecting Axion (Anti)Quark Nuggets (AQN) by using parasitically the superfluid helium-4 LHC cooling system as a unique large-scale earth bound DM detector. In the case of the AQN, we address the question of propagation in the metal parts surrounding the helium. An AQN induces significant heating around the propagation track that damages the enclosure.

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Zizhou Huang, Mihaela Parvu, Dmitry Budker, Ariel Zhitnitsky, Konstantin Zioutas. 2026-08-11. Superfluid He-4 as Dark Matter Detectors. https://arxiv.org/abs/2608.10761

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