scholarly journals DARK MATTER DETECTION IN THE LIGHT OF RECENT EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS

2004 ◽  
Vol 19 (19) ◽  
pp. 3093-3169 ◽  
Author(s):  
CARLOS MUÑOZ
Keyword(s):  
Dark Matter ◽  
Direct Detection ◽  
Theoretical Models ◽  
Weakly Interacting Massive Particles ◽  
The Standard Model ◽  
The World ◽  
Nuclear Recoils ◽  
M Theory ◽  
The Universe ◽  
Matter Detection

The existence of dark matter was suggested, using simple gravitational arguments, seventy years ago. Although we are now convinced that most of the mass in the Universe is indeed some nonluminous matter, we still do not know its composition. The problem of the dark matter in the Universe is reviewed here. Particle candidates for dark matter are discussed with particular emphasis on Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMP's). Experiments searching for these relic particles, carried out by many groups around the world, are also reviewed, paying special attention to their direct detection by observing the elastic scattering on target nuclei through nuclear recoils. Finally, we concentrate on the theoretical models predicting WIMP's, and in particular on supersymmetric extensions of the standard model, where the leading candidate for WIMP, the neutralino, is present. There, we compute the cross-section for the direct detection of neutralinos, and compare it with the sensitivity of detectors. We mainly discuss supergravity, superstring and M theory scenarios.

Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS) Releases New Results on Dark Matter Detection

2015 ◽  
Vol 04 (01) ◽  
pp. 28-30
Author(s):  
Yuan-Hann Chang
Keyword(s):  
Dark Matter ◽  
Direct Detection ◽  
Magnetic Spectrometer ◽  
Gravitational Effects ◽  
Dark Matter Detection ◽  
The Universe ◽  
Matter Detection ◽  
Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer

It is known that the majority (about 80%) of the matter in the universe is not visible, but rather a hypothetical "Dark Matter". The existence of Dark Matter has been postulated to explain the discrepancies between the estimated mass of visible matters in the galaxies, and their gravitational effects. Although it has been postulated for over 70 years, and has been commonly accepted by most scientists, the essence of the Dark Matter has not yet been understood. In particular, we still do not know what constitutes the Dark Matter. Direct detection of the Dark Matter is therefore one of the most important issues in physics.

WIMP event rates in directional experiments: The diurnal variation signature

Open Physics ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
John Vergados ◽  
Charalampos Moustakidis
Keyword(s):  
Dark Matter ◽  
Diurnal Variation ◽  
Cold Dark Matter ◽  
Vacuum Energy ◽  
Direct Detection ◽  
Weakly Interacting Massive Particles ◽  
The Earth ◽  
Event Rates ◽  
Matter Detection ◽  
Direct Dark Matter

AbstractThe recent WMAP data have confirmed that exotic dark matter together with the vacuum energy (cosmological constant) dominate in the flat Universe. Modern particle theories provide viable cold dark matter candidates with masses in the GeV-TeV region. All such candidates will be called WIMPs (Weakly Interacting Massive Particles). The nature of dark matter can only be unraveled by its direct detection in the laboratory. In this work we present some theoretical elements relevant to the direct dark matter detection experiments, paying particular attention to directional experiments, i.e. experiments in which not only the energy but the direction of the recoiling nucleus is observed. Since the direction of observation is fixed with respect to the Earth, while the Earth is rotating around its axis, in a directional experiment the angle between the direction of observation and the Sun’s direction of motion will change during the day. So, since the event rates sensitively depend on this angle, the observed signal in such experiments will exhibit very interesting and characteristic periodic diurnal variation.

scholarly journals Effective Theory Approach to Direct Detection of Dark Matter

2020 ◽  
pp. 650-688
Author(s):  
Junji Hisano
Keyword(s):  
Dark Matter ◽  
Standard Model ◽  
Particle Physics ◽  
Direct Detection ◽  
Effective Field ◽  
Weakly Interacting Massive Particles ◽  
Effective Theory ◽  
Beyond The Standard Model ◽  
Theory Approach ◽  
The Standard Model

It is now certain that dark matter exists in the Universe. However, we do not know its nature, nor are there dark matter candidates in the standard model of particle physics or astronomy However, weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs) in models beyond the standard model are one of the leading candidates available to provide explanation. The dark matter direct detection experiments, in which the nuclei recoiled by WIMPs are sought, are one of the methods to elucidate the nature of dark matter. This chapter introduces an effective field theory (EFT) approach in order to evaluate the nucleon–WIMP elastic scattering cross section.

scholarly journals EXTRACTING DARK MATTER PROPERTIES MODEL-INDEPENDENTLY FROM DIRECT DETECTION EXPERIMENTS

2010 ◽  
Vol 25 (11n12) ◽  
pp. 951-961 ◽  
Author(s):  
CHUNG-LIN SHAN
Keyword(s):  
Dark Matter ◽  
Cross Sections ◽  
Direct Detection ◽  
Velocity Distribution Function ◽  
Weakly Interacting Massive Particles ◽  
Model Independent ◽  
Review Model ◽  
Detector Materials ◽  
Matter Detection ◽  
Direct Dark Matter

In this article I review model-independent procedures for extracting properties of Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs) from direct Dark Matter detection experiments. Neither prior knowledge about the velocity distribution function of halo Dark Matter particles nor about their mass or cross sections on target nucleus is needed. The unique required information is measured recoil energies from experiments with different detector materials.

scholarly journals EFFECTS OF RESIDUE BACKGROUND EVENTS IN DIRECT DETECTION EXPERIMENTS ON IDENTIFYING WIMP DARK MATTER

2011 ◽  
Vol 20 (08) ◽  
pp. 1453-1461 ◽  
Author(s):  
CHUNG-LIN SHAN
Keyword(s):  
Dark Matter ◽  
Direct Detection ◽  
Weakly Interacting Massive Particles ◽  
Data Sets ◽  
Model Independent ◽  
Using Data ◽  
Background Events ◽  
Matter Detection ◽  
Direct Dark Matter

We reexamine the model-independent data analysis methods for extracting properties of Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs) by using data (measured recoil energies) from direct Dark Matter detection experiments directly and, as a more realistic study, consider a small fraction of residue background events, which pass all discrimination criteria and then mix with other real WIMP-induced signals in the analyzed data sets. In this talk, the effects of residue backgrounds on the determination of the WIMP mass as well as the spin-independent WIMP coupling on nucleons will be discussed.

Status of Experiments for Direct Detection of Galactic Dark Matter Particles

2005 ◽  
Vol 201 ◽  
pp. 312-321
Author(s):  
Peter F. Smith
Keyword(s):  
Dark Matter ◽  
Direct Detection ◽  
Coherent Scattering ◽  
Mass Range ◽  
Weakly Interacting Massive Particles ◽  
Directional Sensitivity ◽  
Principal Candidates ◽  
Normal Matter ◽  
Nuclear Recoils ◽  
Supersymmetry Theory

There is increasing evidence that the majority of dark matter is non-baryonic. Principal candidates are weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPS), axions, and neutrinos. There has been increasing effort on sensitive WIMP searches, motivated in particular by supersymmetry theory, which predicts a stable neutral particle in the mass range 10-1000 GeV. Interactions of these with normal matter would produce low energy nuclear recoils which could be observed by underground detectors capable of discriminating these from background. Current experimental progress is summarised, together with plans for more sensitive experiments. These include gaseous detectors with directional sensitivity, offering the prospect of a ‘dark matter telescope’ which would provide information on the dark matter velocity distribution. Axions could be detected by conversion to microwave photons, and experimental sensitivity is approaching the theoretically-required levels. Relic neutrinos could also form a component of the dark matter if any has a cosmologically significant mass, and the latter could be checked with a new detector able to detect the higher neutrino flavours from a Galactic supernova burst. More distant future possibilities are outlined for direct detection of relic neutrinos by coherent scattering.

EXPERIMENTS ON WIMPS, SIMPS, AND HOT DARK MATTER

1994 ◽  
Vol 03 (supp01) ◽  
pp. 43-52
Author(s):  
DAVID O. CALDWELL
Keyword(s):  
Dark Matter ◽  
Cross Section ◽  
Cross Sections ◽  
Particle Physics ◽  
Direct Detection ◽  
Dark Matter Particle ◽  
Dirac Particles ◽  
The Standard Model ◽  
Ionization Detectors ◽  
The Universe

The particle which constitutes more than 90% of the mass of the universe is not one of those in the Standard Model of particle physics. The search for this dark matter particle has now eliminated or severely restricted many candidates. While accelerator-produced results and indirect searches have helped, the most extensive exclusions have come from attempts at direct detection using semiconductor ionization detectors. The region excluded by direct detection extends over 12 orders of magnitude in particle mass and 20 orders of magnitude in cross section for Dirac particles. The need is now to get to cross sections less than one-tenth the weak cross section for Dirac masses >20 GeV and to use detectors having nuclei with spin for Majorana masses ≳10 GeV. Light neutrinos, while not detectable directly, can be eliminated as dominant dark matter if the 17-keV neutrino exists.

scholarly journals Sensitivity of the SHiP experiment to light dark matter

2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Ahdida ◽  
◽  
A. Akmete ◽  
R. Albanese ◽  
A. Alexandrov ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Dark Matter ◽  
Standard Model ◽  
Mass Range ◽  
Weakly Interacting Massive Particles ◽  
Neutrino Detector ◽  
Mass Window ◽  
Dark Photon ◽  
Experimental Campaign ◽  
The Standard Model ◽  
The Universe

Abstract Dark matter is a well-established theoretical addition to the Standard Model supported by many observations in modern astrophysics and cosmology. In this context, the existence of weakly interacting massive particles represents an appealing solution to the observed thermal relic in the Universe. Indeed, a large experimental campaign is ongoing for the detection of such particles in the sub-GeV mass range. Adopting the benchmark scenario for light dark matter particles produced in the decay of a dark photon, with αD = 0.1 and mA′ = 3mχ, we study the potential of the SHiP experiment to detect such elusive particles through its Scattering and Neutrino detector (SND). In its 5-years run, corresponding to 2 · 1020 protons on target from the CERN SPS, we find that SHiP will improve the current limits in the mass range for the dark matter from about 1 MeV to 300 MeV. In particular, we show that SHiP will probe the thermal target for Majorana candidates in most of this mass window and even reach the Pseudo-Dirac thermal relic.

scholarly journals The Xenon Road to Direct Detection of Dark Matter at LNGS: The XENON Project

Universe ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (8) ◽  
pp. 313
Author(s):  
Pietro Di Gangi
Keyword(s):  
Dark Matter ◽  
Direct Detection ◽  
Background Level ◽  
New Physics ◽  
Beyond The Standard Model ◽  
Experimental Physics ◽  
The Standard Model ◽  
Low Levels ◽  
Time Projection ◽  
The Universe

Dark matter is a milestone in the understanding of the Universe and a portal to the discovery of new physics beyond the Standard Model of particles. The direct search for dark matter has become one of the most active fields of experimental physics in the last few decades. Liquid Xenon (LXe) detectors demonstrated the highest sensitivities to the main dark matter candidates (Weakly Interactive Massive Particles, WIMP). The experiments of the XENON project, located in the underground INFN Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso (LNGS) in Italy, are leading the field thanks to the dual-phase LXe time projection chamber (TPC) technology. Since the first prototype XENON10 built in 2005, each detector of the XENON project achieved the highest sensitivity to WIMP dark matter. XENON increased the LXe target mass by nearly a factor 400, up to the 5.9 t of the current XENONnT detector installed at LNGS in 2020. Thanks to an unprecedentedly low background level, XENON1T (predecessor of XENONnT) set the world best limits on WIMP dark matter to date, for an overall boost of more than 3 orders of magnitude to the experimental sensitivity since the XENON project started. In this work, we review the principles of direct dark matter detection with LXe TPCs, the detectors of the XENON project, the challenges posed by background mitigation to ultra-low levels, and the main results achieved by the XENON project in the search for dark matter.

scholarly journals A Review of Basic Energy Reconstruction Techniques in Liquid Xenon and Argon Detectors for Dark Matter and Neutrino Physics Using NEST

Instruments ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 13
Author(s):  
Matthew Szydagis ◽  
Grant A. Block ◽  
Collin Farquhar ◽  
Alexander J. Flesher ◽  
Ekaterina S. Kozlova ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Dark Matter ◽  
Neutrino Physics ◽  
Electric Fields ◽  
Direct Detection ◽  
Profile Likelihood ◽  
Liquid Argon ◽  
Energy Scale ◽  
Liquid Xenon ◽  
Nuclear Recoils ◽  
Available Information

Detectors based upon the noble elements, especially liquid xenon as well as liquid argon, as both single- and dual-phase types, require reconstruction of the energies of interacting particles, both in the field of direct detection of dark matter (weakly interacting massive particles WIMPs, axions, etc.) and in neutrino physics. Experimentalists, as well as theorists who reanalyze/reinterpret experimental data, have used a few different techniques over the past few decades. In this paper, we review techniques based on solely the primary scintillation channel, the ionization or secondary channel available at non-zero drift electric fields, and combined techniques that include a simple linear combination and weighted averages, with a brief discussion of the application of profile likelihood, maximum likelihood, and machine learning. Comparing results for electron recoils (beta and gamma interactions) and nuclear recoils (primarily from neutrons) from the Noble Element Simulation Technique (NEST) simulation to available data, we confirm that combining all available information generates higher-precision means, lower widths (energy resolution), and more symmetric shapes (approximately Gaussian) especially at keV-scale energies, with the symmetry even greater when thresholding is addressed. Near thresholds, bias from upward fluctuations matters. For MeV-GeV scales, if only one channel is utilized, an ionization-only-based energy scale outperforms scintillation; channel combination remains beneficial. We discuss here what major collaborations use.

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