Effective field theory for dark matter absorption on single phonons

Single phonon excitations, with energies in the 1–100 meV range, are a powerful probe of light dark matter (DM). Utilizing effective field theory, we derive a framework to compute DM absorption rates into single phonons starting from general DM-electron, proton, and neutron interactions. We apply the framework to a variety of DM models: Yukawa coupled scalars, axionlike particles with derivative interactions, and vector DM coupling via gauge interactions or Standard Model electric and magnetic dipole moments. We find that GaAs or ${\mathrm{Al}}_2{O}_3$ targets can set powerful constraints on a $U(1{)}_{B-L}$ model, and targets with electronic spin ordering are similarly sensitive to DM coupling to the electron magnetic dipole moment. Lastly, we make the code, phonodark-abs (an extension of the existing phonodark code which computes general DM–single phonon scattering rates), publicly available.Single phonon excitations, with energies in the 1–100 meV range, are a powerful probe of light dark matter (DM). Utilizing effective field theory, we derive a framework to compute DM absorption rates into single phonons starting from general DM-electron, proton, and neutron interactions. We apply the framework to a variety of DM models: Yukawa coupled scalars, axionlike particles with derivative interactions, and vector DM coupling via gauge interactions or Standard Model electric and magnetic dipole moments. We find that GaAs or ${\mathrm{Al}}_{\mathrm{₂}}{O}_{\mathrm{₃}}$ targets can set powerful constraints on a $U(1{)\_(}_{B-\mathrm{L)}}$ model, and targets with electronic spin ordering are similarly sensitive to DM coupling to the electron magnetic dipole moment. Lastly, we make the code, phonodark-abs (an extension of the existing phonodark code which computes general DM–single phonon scattering rates), publicly available.