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Title: On the Direct Detection of Dark Matter Annihilation

Abstract

We investigate the direct detection phenomenology of a class of dark matter (DM) models in which DM does not directly interact with nuclei, but rather, the products of its annihilation do. When these annihilation products are very light compared to the DM mass, the scattering in direct detection experiments is controlled by relativistic kinematics. This results in a distinctive recoil spectrum, a nonstandard and/or even absent annual modulation, and the ability to probe DM masses as low as a ~ 10 MeV. Here, we use current LUX data to show that experimental sensitivity to thermal relic annihilation cross sections has already been reached in a class of models. Moreover, the compatibility of dark matter direct detection experiments can be compared directly in E min space without making assumptions about DM astrophysics, mass, or scattering form factors. Lastly, when DM has direct couplings to nuclei, the limit from annihilation to relativistic particlesin the Sun can be stronger than that of conventional nonrelativistic direct detection by more than 3 orders of magnitude for masses in a 2–7 GeV window.

Authors:
 [1];  [2];  [2]
  1. Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
  2. Univ. of Southern Denmark, Odense (Denmark). CP3-Origins and the Danish Inst. for Advanced Study
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE
OSTI Identifier:
1454985
Alternate Identifier(s):
OSTI ID: 1184441
Report Number(s):
LA-UR-15-20058
Journal ID: ISSN 0031-9007; TRN: US1901183
Grant/Contract Number:  
AC52-06NA25396
Resource Type:
Accepted Manuscript
Journal Name:
Physical Review Letters
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 114; Journal Issue: 23; Journal ID: ISSN 0031-9007
Publisher:
American Physical Society (APS)
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS

Citation Formats

Cherry, John Francis Jr., Frandsen, Mads T., and Shoemaker, Ian M. On the Direct Detection of Dark Matter Annihilation. United States: N. p., 2015. Web. doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.114.231303.
Cherry, John Francis Jr., Frandsen, Mads T., & Shoemaker, Ian M. On the Direct Detection of Dark Matter Annihilation. United States. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.114.231303
Cherry, John Francis Jr., Frandsen, Mads T., and Shoemaker, Ian M. Fri . "On the Direct Detection of Dark Matter Annihilation". United States. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.114.231303. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1454985.
@article{osti_1454985,
title = {On the Direct Detection of Dark Matter Annihilation},
author = {Cherry, John Francis Jr. and Frandsen, Mads T. and Shoemaker, Ian M.},
abstractNote = {We investigate the direct detection phenomenology of a class of dark matter (DM) models in which DM does not directly interact with nuclei, but rather, the products of its annihilation do. When these annihilation products are very light compared to the DM mass, the scattering in direct detection experiments is controlled by relativistic kinematics. This results in a distinctive recoil spectrum, a nonstandard and/or even absent annual modulation, and the ability to probe DM masses as low as a ~ 10 MeV. Here, we use current LUX data to show that experimental sensitivity to thermal relic annihilation cross sections has already been reached in a class of models. Moreover, the compatibility of dark matter direct detection experiments can be compared directly in E min space without making assumptions about DM astrophysics, mass, or scattering form factors. Lastly, when DM has direct couplings to nuclei, the limit from annihilation to relativistic particlesin the Sun can be stronger than that of conventional nonrelativistic direct detection by more than 3 orders of magnitude for masses in a 2–7 GeV window.},
doi = {10.1103/PhysRevLett.114.231303},
journal = {Physical Review Letters},
number = 23,
volume = 114,
place = {United States},
year = {Fri Jun 12 00:00:00 EDT 2015},
month = {Fri Jun 12 00:00:00 EDT 2015}
}

Journal Article:

Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 31 works
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Figures / Tables:

FIG. 1 FIG. 1: LUX Limits on X̄X →more » $\barν_{SM}$$ν_{SM}$, for which GY = GF = 1.2 × 10−5 GeV−2, and a model in which DM annihilates to relativistic pairs $\bar{Y}Y$ which scatter on nuclei, Y N → Y N , via Eq.(4). In the shaded gray band we vary GY in the interval (7× 103 − 5× 102) GF. Propagation effects have been accounted for in determining the flux of Y at the underground site of the LUX detector (see Supplemental Material at [URL will be inserted by publisher], which includes Refs. [75–77]).« less

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Figures/Tables have been extracted from DOE-funded journal article accepted manuscripts.