Related papers: Terrestrial WIMP/Axion astronomy
Sensitive dark matter (DM) experiments can be well exploited beyond their designated targets, allowing to explore a breadth of physics topics. As we discuss, future large direct DM detection experiments constitute impressive telescopes,…
WIMP direct detection experiments are just reaching the sensitivity required to detect galactic dark matter in the form of neutralinos. Data from these experiments are usually analysed under the simplifying assumption that the Milky Way…
Among the many experimental techniques available, those providing directional information have the potential of yielding an unambiguous observation of WIMPs even in the presence of insidious backgrounds. A measurement of the distribution of…
Detecting dark matter as it streams through detectors on Earth relies on knowledge of its phase space density on a scale comparable to the size of our solar system. Numerical simulations predict that our Galactic halo contains an enormous…
A new search strategy for the detection of the elusive dark matter (DM) axion is proposed. The idea is based on streaming DM axions, whose flux might get temporally enormously enhanced due to gravitational lensing. This can happen if the…
Direct detection experiments searching for weakly interacting massive particle (WIMP) dark matter typically use a simplified model of the Galactic halo to derive parameter constraints. However, there is strong evidence that this Standard…
The signals expected in WIMP direct detection experiments depend on the ultra-local dark matter distribution. Observations probe the local density, circular speed and escape speed, while simulations find velocity distributions that deviate…
The halo independent comparison of direct dark matter detection data eliminates the need to make any assumption on the uncertain local dark matter distribution and is complementary to the usual data comparison which required assuming a dark…
We discuss the sensitivity of the present and near-future axion dark matter experiments to a halo of axions or axion-like particles gravitationally bound to the Earth or the Sun. The existence of such halos, assuming they are formed,…
The signals in dark matter direct-detection experiments should exhibit modulation signatures due to the Earth's motion with respect to the Galactic dark matter halo. The annual and daily modulations, due to the Earth's revolution about the…
We will review the experimental aspects of the direct search for WIMP dark matter. In thin search, one looks in a terrestrial target for nuclear recoils produced by the impacts with WIMPs from the galatic halo. After describing the…
Cosmological structure formation predicts that our galactic halo contains an enormous hierarchy of substructures and streams, the remnants of the merging hierarchy that began with tiny Earth mass microhalos. If these structures persist…
Directional detection of galactic Dark Matter is a promising search strategy for discriminating genuine WIMP events from background ones. However, to take full advantage of this powerful detection method, one need to be able to extract…
Directional detection of Galactic Dark Matter is a promising search strategy for discriminating genuine WIMP events from background ones. Technical progress on gaseous detectors and read-outs has permitted the design and construction of…
The dark matter of our galactic halo may be constituted by elementary particles that interact weakly with ordinary matter (WIMPs). In spite of the very low counting rates expected for these dark matter particles to scatter off nuclei in a…
Dark matter (DM) direct detection experiments aim to place constraints on the DM--nucleon scattering cross-section and the DM particle mass. These constraints depend sensitively on the assumed local DM density and velocity distribution…
The dark matter problem will be solved only when all of the dark matter is accounted for. Although wimps may be discovered in direct detection experiments soon, we will not know what fraction of the dark matter halo they compose until we…
Dark Matter detectors with directional sensitivity have the potential of yielding an unambiguous positive observation of WIMPs as well as discriminating between galactic Dark Matter halo models. In this article, we introduce the motivation…
More and more claims of having detected WIMP dark matter are being put forward. Some are discussed here, stressing the importance of exploiting distinctive signatures to ascertain their WIMP origin. The best signals for WIMP discovery are…
Despite strong evidence for the existence of large amounts of dark matter (DM) in our Universe, there is no direct indication of its presence in our own solar system. All estimates of the local DM density rely on extrapolating results on…