Physics (Internal)

A Model Independent Analysis of Dark Matter Direct Detections

This event is part of the Preliminary Oral Exam.

Examining committee: Emanuel Katz, Tulika Bose, Claudio Chamon and Andrew Cohen

Abstract:

In this talk I will describe a general non-relativistic effective theory of dark matter (DM) direct detections. In this theory all Galilean-invariant operators up to quadratic order in momentum transfer, arising from exchange of particles of spin one or less, are written down. Any DM particle theory can be translated into coefficients of an effective operator and any effective operator can be simply related to a most general description of the nuclear responses. These responses differ significantly from the standard minimal WIMP cases, but are potentially testable in weak interaction studies. Response functions are evaluated for common direct detection targets, which facilitates our study of the current experimental constraints on the operator parameter space. I will also discuss the potential gaps in the parameter space due to interference sectors of these operators.