Momentum dependent dark matter scattering
- Physics Department, University of California Davis, 1 Shields Ave, Davis, California 95616 (United States)
- Michigan Center for Theoretical Physics (MCTP), Department of Physics, University of Michigan, 450 Church St, Ann Arbor, MI 48109 (United States)
- Center for Cosmology and Particle Physics, Department of Physics, New York University, 4 Washington Place, New York, NY 10003 (United States)
It is usually assumed that WIMPs interact through spin-independent and spin-dependent interactions. Interactions which carry additional powers of the momentum transfer, q{sup 2}, are assumed to be too small to be relevant. In theories with new particles at the ∼ GeV scale, however, these q{sup 2}-dependent interactions can be large, and, in some cases dominate over the standard interactions. This leads to new phenomenology in direct detection experiments. Recoil spectra peak at non-zero energies, and the relative strengths of different experiments can be significantly altered. We present a simple parameterization for models of this type which captures much of the interesting phenomenology and allows a comparison between experiments. As an application, we find that dark matter with momentum dependent interactions coupling to the spin of the proton can reconcile the DAMA annual modulation result with other experiments.
- OSTI ID:
- 22272940
- Journal Information:
- Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics, Vol. 2010, Issue 01; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 1475-7516
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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