Dark Matter Search Experiments

Abstract

Astronomical and cosmological observations of the past 80 years build solid evidence that atomic matter makes up only a small fraction of the matter in the universe. The dominant fraction does not interact with electromagnetic radiation, does not absorb or emit light and hence is called Dark Matter. So far dark matter has revealed its existence only through gravitational effects. The strongest experimental effort to find other evidence and learn more about the nature of the dark matter particles concentrates around Weakly Interacting Massive Particles which are among the best motivated dark matter candidates. The two main groups of experiments in this field aim for indirect detection through annihilation products and direct detection via interactions with atomic matter respectively. The experimental sensitivity is starting to reach the parameter range which is preferred by theoretical considerations and we can expect to confirm or dismiss some of the most interesting theoretical models in the next few years.

23 pages, 6 figures; Prepared for the proceedings of the IVth International Pontecorvo Neutrino Physics School, held in Alushta, Ukraine, from September 26 to October 06, 2010; to be published in "Physics of Elementary Particles and Atomic Nuclei" (Pleiades Publishing Inc., Moscow)

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Cited by in corpus (6)

• Review of the theoretical and experimental status of dark matter identification with cosmic-ray antideuterons
• Response of CdWO4 crystal scintillator for few MeV ions and low energy electrons
• Measurement of ${}^{216}$Po half-life with the CUPID-0 experiment
• Model-Independent Identification of Inelastic WIMPs from Direct Dark Matter Detection Experiments
• Flavour Condensate and the Dark Sector of the Universe
• State of the Art in Direct Dark Matter Detectors: Technologies, Performance, and Future Directions