Dark matter, light mediators, and the neutrino floor

Journal Article · Tue Mar 21 00:00:00 EDT 2017 · Physical Review. D.

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevd.95.051701· OSTI ID:1536234

Dent, James B. ^[1]; Dutta, Bhaskar ^[2]; Newstead, Jayden L. ^[3]; Strigari, Louis E. ^[2]

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1. University of Louisiana, Lafayette, LA (United States); University of California, Santa Barbara, CA (United States). Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics
2. Texas A & M University, College Station, TX (United States)
3. Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ (United States)

Her we analyze direct dark matter detection experiments for ≲100 MeV mass mediators with general interactions. We compare the nuclear recoil energy spectra from these interactions to the solar neutrino spectrum. A set of interactions that generate spectra similar to the neutrino background is identified; however, this set is distinct from those that mimic the neutrino background for ≳100 MeV mass mediators. We outline a classification scheme based on momentum dependence of the dark matter–nucleus interaction to determine how strong the discovery limit for each interaction saturates due to the neutrino background. Our results motivate experimental progress towards lower nuclear recoil energy thresholds.

• Research Organization: Texas A & M Univ., College Station, TX (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Science (SC); National Science Foundation (NSF)
• Grant/Contract Number: SC0010813; FG02-13ER42020; PHY-1522717
• OSTI ID: 1536234
• Alternate ID(s): OSTI ID: 1349963
• Report Number(s): MI-TH-1618; CETUP2016-003
• Journal Information: Physical Review. D., Vol. 95, Issue 5; ISSN 2470-0010
• Publisher: American Physical Society (APS)
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS
72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS
dark matter
particle dark matter
solar neutrinos
dark matter detectors