Abstract
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 are derived. 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.
Highlights
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 are derived
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
Obtain quite strong lower bounds on the cross section, that must be fulfilled by any particle physics model in order for the signal to be consistent with DM
Summary
We focus on elastic scattering of DM particles χ off a nucleus with mass number A depositing a nuclear recoil energy ER. The differential rate for a detector with n different target nuclei is given by: R(ER, t) =. Where σSI is the total DM-proton scattering cross section at zero momentum transfer, μχp is the DM-proton reduced mass, and FA(ER) is a nuclear form factor. For SD interactions there is no A2 enhancement, the form factor is different, and σSD will denote the zero-momentum DM-proton scattering cross section. The time dependence in the event rate is introduced through η(vmA , t) = η(vmA ) + δη(vmA , t) ,. The phase and the energy at which the flip may occur depends on the velocity distribution. GA[E1,E2](ER) is the detector response function describing the probability that a DM event with true recoil energy ER is reconstructed in the energy interval [E1, E2], including efficiencies, energy resolution, and quenching factors
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