Halo-independent analysis of direct dark matter detection through electron scattering

Abstract

Sub-GeV mass dark matter particles whose collisions with nuclei would not deposit sufficient energy to be detected, could instead be revealed through their interaction with electrons.Analyses of data from direct detection experiments usually require assuming a local dark matter halo velocity distribution. In the halo-independent analysis method, properties of this distribution are instead inferred from direct dark matter detection data, which allows then to compare different data without making any assumption on the uncertain local dark halo characteristics. This method has so far been developed for and applied to dark matter scattering off nuclei. Here we demonstrate how this analysis can be applied to scattering off electrons.