2020/01/24 by Andrzej Hryczuk, Ekaterina Karukes, Leszek Roszkowski +1 · 11 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #Astrophysics and Cosmic Phenomena #Dark Matter and Cosmic Phenomena #Dark matter #Dark matter halo #Galaxy #Halo #Milky Way #Particle physics theoretical and experimental studies #Recoil #Scattering #Sensitivity (control systems) #Weakly interacting massive particles #hep-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1007/jhep07(2020)081
published in Journal of High Energy Physics 2020(7) (Springer Nature) · 13 pages, 4 figures
arxiv created 2020/01/24 · openalex created_date 2020/01/30 · openalex publication_date 2020/07/01 · arxiv updated 2020/08/26 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
A bstract We use the state-of-the-art high-resolution cosmological simulations by IllustrisTNG to derive the velocity distribution and local density of dark matter in galaxies like our Milky Way and find a substantial spread in both quantities. Next we use our findings to examine the sensitivity to the dark matter velocity profile of underground searches using electron scattering in germanium and silicon targets. We find that sub-GeV dark matter search is strongly affected by these uncertainties, unlike nuclear recoil searches for heavier dark matter, especially in multiple electron-hole modes, for which the sensitivity to the scattering cross-section is also weaker. Therefore, by improving the sensitivity to lower ionization thresholds not only projected sensitivities will be boosted but also the dependence on the astrophysical uncertainties will become significantly reduced.