Erlangen 2026 – scientific programme

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T: Fachverband Teilchenphysik

T 36: Search for Dark Matter II

T 36.6: Talk

Tuesday, March 17, 2026, 17:30–17:45, AM 00.014

Tracking down the Low-Energy Excess: First results from CRESST Double-TES Modules — •Marco Zanirato for the CRESST collaboration — Max Planck Institut für Physik, München, Deutschland

The Cryogenic Rare Event Search with Superconducting Thermometers (CRESST) is a forefront experiment in the direct detection of dark matter, located at the Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso (LNGS) in Italy. By employing cryogenic calorimeters based primarily on scintillating crystals equipped with Transition Edge Sensors (TESs), CRESST achieves energy thresholds of the order of 30 eV with a 24 g detector. However, the development of such a cutting-edge experiment presents several challenges. One of the most pressing is the unexplained rise in the number of events observed below 200 eV, commonly referred to as the Low-Energy Excess (LEE).

To investigate the origin of this excess, the current data-taking campaign utilises detector modules with two sensors per crystal, allowing the collaboration to disentangle whether the LEE is linked to the crystal or to the sensors themselves. This talk will provide an overview of the concept behind these new modules, the results obtained in above-ground tests, and the first preliminary findings from the ongoing underground run.

Keywords: CRESST; Low Energy Excess; sub-GeV Dark Matter; Double-TES