Abstract
We explore the ability of directional nuclear-recoil detectors to constrain the local velocity distribution of weakly interacting massive particle (WIMP) dark matter by performing Bayesian parameter estimation on simulated recoil-event data sets. We discuss in detail how directional information, when combined with measurements of the recoil-energy spectrum, helps break degeneracies in the velocity-distribution parameters. We also consider the possibility that velocity structures such as cold tidal streams or a dark disk may also be present in addition to the Galactic halo. Assuming a CF4 detector with a 30-kg-yr exposure, a 50-GeV WIMP mass, and a WIMP-nucleon spin-dependent cross-section of 10−3pb, we show that the properties of a cold tidal stream may be well constrained. However, measurement of the parameters of a dark-disk component with a low lag speed of ∼ 50km/s may be challenging unless energy thresholds are improved.
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