Optimized velocity distributions for direct dark matter detection

Abstract

We present a method to calculate, without making assumptions about the local dark matter velocity distribution, the maximal and minimal number of signal events in a direct detection experiment given a set of constraints from other direct detection experiments and/or neutrino telescopes. The method also allows to determine the velocity distribution that optimizes the signal rates. We illustrate our method with three concrete applications: i) to derive a halo-independent upper limit on the cross section from a set of null results, ii) to confront in a halo-independent way a detection claim to a set of null results and iii) to assess, in a halo-independent manner, the prospects for detection in a future experiment given a set of current null results.

31 pages, 14 figures, 2 tables. Minor modifications to match the published version

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Cited by in corpus (20)

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• Dark Shards: velocity substructure from Gaia and direct searches for dark matter
• The Waning of the WIMP: Endgame?
• On the direct detection of multi-component dark matter: sensitivity studies and parameter estimation
• Model-independent comparison of annual modulation and total rate with direct detection experiments
• The Metal-Poor Stellar Halo in RAVE-TGAS and its Implications for the Velocity Distribution of Dark Matter
• Bracketing the impact of astrophysical uncertainties on local dark matter searches
• Halo-independent comparison of direct detection experiments in the effective theory of dark matter-nucleon interactions
• Dark matter substructures affect dark matter-electron scattering in xenon-based direct detection experiments
• Prospects for determining the particle/antiparticle nature of WIMP dark matter with direct detection experiments
• Non-parametric uncertainties in the dark matter velocity distribution
• Halo-independence with quantified maximum entropy at DAMA/LIBRA
• Velocity independent constraints on spin-dependent DM-nucleon interactions from IceCube and PICO
• Halo-Independent Analysis of Direct Dark Matter Detection Through Electron Scattering
• Direct Detection Anomalies in light of $Gaia$ Data
• Halo-Independent Dark Matter Electron Scattering Analysis with In-Medium Effects
• Signatures and Detection Prospects for sub-GeV Dark Matter with Superfluid Helium
• Information divergences to parametrize astrophysical uncertainties in dark matter direct detection
• Explaining DAMA with proton-philic spin-dependent inelastic Dark Matter (pSIDM): a frequentist analysis