Halo-independent analysis of direct dark matter detection through electron scattering

Sub-GeV mass dark matter particles whose collisions with nuclei would not deposit sufficient energy to be detected, could instead be revealed through their interaction with electrons. Analyses of data from direct detection experiments usually require assuming a local dark matter halo velocity distribution. In the halo-independent analysis method, properties of this distribution are instead inferred from direct dark matter detection data, which allows then to compare different data without making any assumption on the uncertain local dark halo characteristics. This method has so far been developed for and applied to dark matter scattering off nuclei. Here we demonstrate how this analysis can be applied to scattering off electrons.

Study of sensitivity to dark matter scattering for liquid argon detectors in EFT framework

The framework of nonrelativistic effective field theory (NREFT) aims to generalize the standard analysis of direct detection experiments in terms of spin-dependent (SD) and spin-independent (SI) interactions. Here we performed EFT analysis and obtained sensitivity curves for liquid argon detectors to scattering of dark matter (DM) particles in case of different interaction models. DM velocity distribution and experimental dependencies are also described.

Light dark matter scattering in gravitational wave detectors

We present prospects for discovering dark matter scattering in gravitational wave detectors. The focus of this work is on light, particle dark matter with masses below 1 $$\hbox {GeV}/\text {c}^{2}$$ GeV / c 2 . We investigate how a potential signal compares to typical backgrounds like thermal and quantum noise, first in a simple toy model and then using KAGRA as a realistic example. That shows that for a discovery much lighter and cooler mirrors would be needed. We also give some brief comments on space-based experiments and future atomic interferometers.