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We reinterpret the results of the direct searches for dark matter in terms of milli-interacting dark particles. The model reproduces the positive results from DAMA/LIBRA and CoGeNT and is consistent with the absence of signal in the…
In this thesis, we present a comprehensive and pedagogical overview of dark matter (DM). Chapter 1 discusses the main evidences for its existence, its properties, and potential candidates. We then explore major detection strategies, with…
We point out that a non-relativistic $\sim 2 $ GeV dark matter (DM) which interacts with visible matter through higher dimensional Rayleigh operators could explain the excess of "electron recoil" events recently observed by the Xenon1T…
Dark matter could be made up of dark photons, massive but very light particles whose interactions with matter resemble those of usual photons but suppressed by a small mixing parameter. We analyze the main approaches to dark photon…
We consider the generic possibility that the Universe's energy budget includes some form of relativistic or semi-relativistic dark radiation (DR) with non-gravitational interactions with Standard Model (SM) particles. Such dark radiation…
We report constraints on light dark matter (DM) models using ionization signals in the XENON1T experiment. We mitigate backgrounds with strong event selections, rather than requiring a scintillation signal, leaving an effective exposure of…
We report on a search for sub-GeV dark matter (DM) particles interacting with electrons using the DAMIC-M prototype detector at the Modane Underground Laboratory. The data feature a significantly lower detector single $e^-$ rate (factor 50)…
I present the status of direct dark matter detection with specific attention to the experimental results and their phenomenological interpretation in terms of dark matter interactions. In particular I review a new and more general approach…
Direct detection experiments aimed at uncovering the elusive nature of dark matter (DM) have made significant progress in probing ever lower cross-sections for DM-nucleon interactions. At the same time, an upper limit in the cross-section…
The interactions of dark matter with Standard Model particles can be systematically studied in the language of effective field theories. We investigate dark matter interactions with Standard Model particles, including spin-dependent…
We compute the projected sensitivity to dark matter (DM) particles in the sub-GeV mass range of future direct detection experiments using germanium and silicon semiconductor targets. We perform this calculation within the dark photon model…
Dark matter (DM) charged under a dark U(1) force appears in many extensions of the Standard Model, and has been invoked to explain anomalies in cosmic-ray data, as well as a self-interacting DM candidate. In this paper, we perform a…
Detectors with low thresholds for electron recoil open a new window to direct searches of sub-GeV dark matter (DM) candidates. In the past decade, many strong limits on DM-electron interactions have been set, but most on the one which is…
The standard interpretation of direct-detection limits on dark matter involves particular assumptions of the underlying WIMP-nucleus interaction, such as, in the simplest case, the choice of a Helm form factor that phenomenologically…
A new frontier in the search for dark matter (DM) is based on the idea of detecting the decoherence caused by DM scattering against a mesoscopic superposition of normal matter. Such superpositions are uniquely sensitive to very small…
We study the direct detection prospects for a representative set of simplified models of sub-GeV dark matter (DM), accounting for existing terrestrial, astrophysical and cosmological constraints. We focus on dark matter lighter than an MeV,…
Direct detection strategies are proposed for dark matter particles with MeV to GeV mass. In this largely unexplored mass range, dark matter scattering with electrons can cause single-electron ionization signals, which are detectable with…
We consider direct-detection searches for sub-GeV dark matter via electron scatterings in the presence of large interactions between dark and ordinary matter. Scatterings both on electrons and nuclei in the Earth's crust, atmosphere, and…
Discrete symmetries played a central role in elucidating the structure of the weak interactions, and they will probably be equally crucial regarding the interactions of the dark matter (DM) particle -- whose nature remains elusive. In this…
We present the projected sensitivity to non-relativistic Effective Field Theory (EFT) operators for Dark Matter (DM) direct detection using the QUEST-DMC experiment. QUEST-DMC employs superfluid Helium-3 as a target medium and measures…