Article

# Model-Independent Determination of the WIMP Mass from Direct Dark Matter Detection Data

(Impact Factor: 5.81). 05/2008; 2008(06). DOI: 10.1088/1475-7516/2008/06/012
Source: arXiv

ABSTRACT

Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs) are one of the leading candidates for Dark Matter. We develop a model-independent method for determining the mass $m_\chi$ of the WIMP by using data (i.e., measured recoil energies) of direct detection experiments. Our method is independent of the as yet unknown WIMP density near the Earth, of the form of the WIMP velocity distribution, as well as of the WIMP-nucleus cross section. However, it requires positive signals from at least two detectors with different target nuclei. In a background-free environment, $m_\chi \sim 50$ GeV could in principle be determined with an error of $\sim 35%$ with only $2 \times 50$ events; in practice upper and lower limits on the recoil energy of signal events, imposed to reduce backgrounds, can increase the error. The method also loses precision if $m_\chi$ significantly exceeds the mass of the heaviest target nucleus used.

0 Followers
·
• Source
• "These can be either DM or neutrino probes. For example, DM direct detection data can be used to determine the mass of the DM and bound the mediator mass [97] [98] [99]. "
##### Article: New or $\nu$ Missing Energy? Discriminating Dark Matter from Neutrino Interactions at the LHC
[Hide abstract]
ABSTRACT: Missing energy signals such as monojets are a possible signature of Dark Matter (DM) at colliders. However, neutrino interactions beyond the Standard Model may also produce missing energy signals. In order to conclude that new "missing particles" are observed the hypothesis of BSM neutrino interactions must be rejected. In this paper, we first derive new limits on these Non-Standard neutrino Interactions (NSIs) from LHC monojet data. For heavy NSI mediators, these limits are much stronger than those coming from traditional low-energy $\nu$ scattering or $\nu$ oscillation experiments for some flavor structures. Monojet data alone can be used to infer the mass of the "missing particle" from the shape of the missing energy distribution. In particular, 13 TeV LHC data will have sensitivity to DM masses greater than $\sim$ 1 TeV. In addition to the monojet channel, NSI can be probed in multi-lepton searches which we find to yield stronger limits at heavy mediator masses. The sensitivity offered by these multi-lepton channels provide a method to reject or confirm the DM hypothesis in missing energy searches.
• Source
• "In this case one would need to obtain the DM mass by other means, for instance from LHC measurements, from an indirect detection signal (i.e., a gamma ray line) or from more than one DD signal, see for instance refs. [19] [37]. Notice that results for different DM masses can be obtained by a simple rescaling of figure 3. "
##### Article: Halo-independent tests of dark matter annual modulation signals
[Hide abstract]
ABSTRACT: I derive new halo-independent lower bounds on the product of the dark matter-nucleon scattering cross section and the local dark matter density that are valid for annual modulations of dark matter direct detection signals. They are obtained by making use of halo-independent bounds based on an expansion of the rate on the Earth's velocity that were derived in previous works. In combination with astrophysical measurements of the local energy density, an observed annual modulation implies a lower bound on the cross section that is independent of the velocity distribution and that must be fulfilled by any particle physics model. In order to illustrate the power of the bounds we apply them to DAMA/LIBRA data and obtain quite strong results when compared to the standard halo model predictions. We also extend the bounds to the case of multi-target detectors.
Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics 06/2015; 2015(09). DOI:10.1088/1475-7516/2015/09/012 · 5.81 Impact Factor
• Source
• "However, motivated by our present lack of understanding of the local dark matter velocity distribution, techniques have been developed which interpret direct detection results independent of assumptions about the astrophysics. Given at least two experimental measurements of dark matter scattering, on different elements, it is possible to determine the dark – 1 – matter mass without making assumptions about the form of the velocity distribution [20]. Even without two positive results it is possible to compare experiments in an astrophysics independent fashion by constraining the halo integral itself, rather than the DM-nucleus scattering cross section [21]. "
##### Article: Halo-Independent Direct Detection Analyses Without Mass Assumptions
[Hide abstract]
ABSTRACT: Results from direct detection experiments are typically interpreted by employing an assumption about the dark matter velocity distribution, with results presented in the $m_\chi-\sigma_n$ plane. Recently methods which are independent of the DM halo velocity distribution have been developed which present results in the $v_{min}-\tilde{g}$ plane, but these in turn require an assumption on the dark matter mass. Here we present an extension of these halo-independent methods for dark matter direct detection which does not require a fiducial choice of the dark matter mass. With a change of variables from $v_{min}$ to nuclear recoil momentum ($p_R$), the full halo-independent content of an experimental result for any dark matter mass can be condensed into a single plot as a function of a new halo integral variable, which we call $\tilde{h}(p_R)$. The entire family of conventional halo-independent $\tilde{g}(v_{min})$ plots for all DM masses are directly found from the single $\tilde{h}(p_R)$ plot through a simple rescaling of axes. By considering results in $\tilde{h}(p_R)$ space, one can determine if two experiments are inconsistent for all masses and all physically possible halos, or for what range of dark matter masses the results are inconsistent for all halos, without the necessity of multiple $\tilde{g}(v_{min})$ plots for different DM masses. We conduct a sample analysis comparing the CDMS II Si events to the null results from LUX, XENON10, and SuperCDMS using our method and discuss how the mass-independent limits can be strengthened by imposing the physically reasonable requirement of a finite halo escape velocity.

## Similar Publications

• ##### Upgrading sterile neutrino dark matter to FImP using scale invariance
Zhaofeng Kang