Dark-matter detection by elastic and inelastic LSP scattering on 129Xe and 131Xe

We calculate the nuclear matrix elements involved in the elastic and inelastic scattering of the lightest supersymmetric particle (LSP) on the 129Xe and 131Xe dark-matter detector nuclei. This is the first time when both channels are addressed within the same unified microscopic nuclear framework, namely we perform large-scale shell-model calculations with a realistic two-body interaction to produce the participant nuclear wave functions. These wave functions successfully reproduce the spectroscopic data on the relevant magnetic moments and M1 decays. The tested wave functions are used to produce annual average detection rates for both the elastic and inelastic channels. It is found that the inelastic channel has great detection potential for 129Xe if the LSP is heavy and stems from a SUSY model that enhances the spin-dependent scattering.