2015/05/12 by James B. Dent, Lawrence M. Krauss, Jayden L. Newstead +1 · 87 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #Astrophysics #Atomic and Subatomic Physics Research #Cosmology #Dark Matter and Cosmic Phenomena #Dark energy #Dark matter #Particle physics #Particle physics theoretical and experimental studies #Physics #Physics beyond the Standard Model #Quantum mechanics #Recoil #Spin (aerodynamics) #Spins #Theoretical physics #astro-ph.CO #hep-ex #hep-ph #nucl-ex #nucl-th
paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physrevd.92.063515
published in Physical review. D. Particles, fields, gravitation, and cosmology/Physical review. D. Particles and fields 92(6) (American Physical Society) · 37 pages, six figures, submitted to Phys. Rev. D
arxiv created 2015/05/12 · openalex publication_date 2015/09/14 · arxiv updated 2015/09/23 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
Beginning with a set of simplified models for spin-0, spin-(1)/(2), and spin-1 dark matter candidates, we derive the full set of nonrelativistic operators and nuclear matrix elements relevant for direct detection of dark matter and use these to calculate rates and recoil spectra for scattering on various target nuclei. This allows us to explore what high energy physics constraints might be obtainable from direct detection experiments, what degeneracies exist, which operators are ubiquitous, and which are unlikely or subdominant. We find that there are operators which are common to all spins as well operators which are unique to spin-(1)/(2) and spin-1 and elucidate two new operators which have not been previously considered. In addition we demonstrate how recoil energy spectra can distinguish fundamental microphysics if multiple target nuclei are used. Our work provides a complete road map for taking generic fundamental dark matter theories and calculating rates in direct detection experiments. This provides a useful guide for experimentalists designing experiments and theorists developing new dark matter models.