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Title: The effective field theory of dark matter direct detection

Abstract

We extend and explore the general non-relativistic effective theory of dark matter (DM) direct detection. We describe the basic non-relativistic building blocks of operators and discuss their symmetry properties, writing down all Galilean-invariant operators up to quadratic order in momentum transfer arising from exchange of particles of spin 1 or less. Any DM particle theory can be translated into the coefficients of an effective operator and any effective operator can be simply related to most general description of the nuclear response. We find several operators which lead to novel nuclear responses. These responses differ significantly from the standard minimal WIMP cases in their relative coupling strengths to various elements, changing how the results from different experiments should be compared against each other. Response functions are evaluated for common DM targets — F, Na, Ge, I, and Xe — using standard shell model techniques. We point out that each of the nuclear responses is familiar from past studies of semi-leptonic electroweak interactions, and thus potentially testable in weak interaction studies. We provide tables of the full set of required matrix elements at finite momentum transfer for a range of common elements, making a careful and fully model-independent analysis possible. Finally, wemore » discuss embedding non-relativistic effective theory operators into UV models of dark matter.« less

Authors:
;  [1];  [2]; ;  [3]
  1. Stanford Institute for Theoretical Physics, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305 (United States)
  2. Dept. of Physics, University of California, and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, 94720 (United States)
  3. Physics Department, Boston University, Boston, MA 02215 (United States)
Publication Date:
OSTI Identifier:
22283004
Resource Type:
Journal Article
Journal Name:
Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 2013; Journal Issue: 02; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); Journal ID: ISSN 1475-7516
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
79 ASTROPHYSICS, COSMOLOGY AND ASTRONOMY; ASTROPHYSICS; COMPARATIVE EVALUATIONS; COUPLING; FIELD OPERATORS; FIELD THEORIES; MATRIX ELEMENTS; MOMENTUM TRANSFER; NONLUMINOUS MATTER; POTENTIALS; RELATIVISTIC RANGE; RESPONSE FUNCTIONS; SPIN; WEAK INTERACTIONS

Citation Formats

Fitzpatrick, A. Liam, Katz, Emanuel, Haxton, Wick, Lubbers, Nicholas, and Xu, Yiming. The effective field theory of dark matter direct detection. United States: N. p., 2013. Web. doi:10.1088/1475-7516/2013/02/004.
Fitzpatrick, A. Liam, Katz, Emanuel, Haxton, Wick, Lubbers, Nicholas, & Xu, Yiming. The effective field theory of dark matter direct detection. United States. https://doi.org/10.1088/1475-7516/2013/02/004
Fitzpatrick, A. Liam, Katz, Emanuel, Haxton, Wick, Lubbers, Nicholas, and Xu, Yiming. 2013. "The effective field theory of dark matter direct detection". United States. https://doi.org/10.1088/1475-7516/2013/02/004.
@article{osti_22283004,
title = {The effective field theory of dark matter direct detection},
author = {Fitzpatrick, A. Liam and Katz, Emanuel and Haxton, Wick and Lubbers, Nicholas and Xu, Yiming},
abstractNote = {We extend and explore the general non-relativistic effective theory of dark matter (DM) direct detection. We describe the basic non-relativistic building blocks of operators and discuss their symmetry properties, writing down all Galilean-invariant operators up to quadratic order in momentum transfer arising from exchange of particles of spin 1 or less. Any DM particle theory can be translated into the coefficients of an effective operator and any effective operator can be simply related to most general description of the nuclear response. We find several operators which lead to novel nuclear responses. These responses differ significantly from the standard minimal WIMP cases in their relative coupling strengths to various elements, changing how the results from different experiments should be compared against each other. Response functions are evaluated for common DM targets — F, Na, Ge, I, and Xe — using standard shell model techniques. We point out that each of the nuclear responses is familiar from past studies of semi-leptonic electroweak interactions, and thus potentially testable in weak interaction studies. We provide tables of the full set of required matrix elements at finite momentum transfer for a range of common elements, making a careful and fully model-independent analysis possible. Finally, we discuss embedding non-relativistic effective theory operators into UV models of dark matter.},
doi = {10.1088/1475-7516/2013/02/004},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/22283004}, journal = {Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics},
issn = {1475-7516},
number = 02,
volume = 2013,
place = {United States},
year = {Fri Feb 01 00:00:00 EST 2013},
month = {Fri Feb 01 00:00:00 EST 2013}
}