Searching for light WIMPS in view of neutron decay to dark matter

Abstract

In the present work we examine the implications on dark matter searches of the possibility of a partial decay of a neutron into a dark matter particle, slightly lighter than itself. Such a scenario recently proposed is required to bridge the discrepancy between the results of two different experiments measuring the lifetime of the neutron. It was subsequently suggested that this light dark matter candidate could make up the whole of dark matter in the Universe. We thus first compute the nucleon cross section based on such models. Then, we proceed to explore the various signatures appearing in dark matter searches involving nuclear targets, in the case of such a light dark matter candidate.