An Attractive Scenario for Light Dark Matter Direct Detection

Abstract

Direct detection of light dark matter (DM), below the GeV scale, through electron recoil can be efficient if DM has a velocity well above the virial value of $v\sim 10^{-3}$. We point out that if there is a long range attractive force sourced by bulk ordinary matter, i.e. baryons or electrons, DM can be accelerated towards the Earth and reach velocities $v\sim 0.1$ near the Earth's surface. In this "attractive scenario," all DM will be boosted to high velocities by the time it reaches direct detection apparatuses in laboratories. Furthermore, the attractive force leads to an enhanced DM number density at the Earth facilitating DM detection even more. We elucidate the implications of this scenario for electron recoil direct detection experiments and find parameters that could lead to potential signals, while being consistent with stellar cooling and other bounds. Our scenario can potentially explain the recent excess in electron recoil signals reported by the XENON1T experiment in the $\sim$ keV energy regime as well as the hint for non-standard stellar cooling.

arXiv comment6 pages, 4 figures, comments welcome; v2: 7 pages, 4 figures, model signal improved and additional hints considered, matches published version; v3: corrected typos in eqs. 3-4, results unchanged

References in corpus (44)

• Test of the Equivalence Principle Using a Rotating Torsion Balance
• Beyond Collisionless Dark Matter: Particle Physics Dynamics for Dark Matter Halo Structure
• Excess Electronic Recoil Events in XENON1T
• Physics reach of the XENON1T dark matter experiment
• First Dark Matter Constraints from a SuperCDMS Single-Charge Sensitive Detector
• Black Hole Superradiance Signatures of Ultralight Vectors
• Novel direct detection constraints on light dark matter
• The XENON1T Dark Matter Experiment
• Superconducting Detectors for Super Light Dark Matter
• SENSEI: Direct-Detection Constraints on Sub-GeV Dark Matter from a Shallow Underground Run Using a Prototype Skipper-CCD
• SENSEI: First Direct-Detection Constraints on sub-GeV Dark Matter from a Surface Run
• Detection of sub-MeV Dark Matter with Three-Dimensional Dirac Materials
• First germanium-based constraints on sub-MeV Dark Matter with the EDELWEISS experiment
• (In)direct Detection of Boosted Dark Matter
• Light Dark Matter at Neutrino Experiments
• Cool WISPs for stellar cooling excesses
• Semi-annihilation of Dark Matter
• Directional Detection of Dark Matter with Two-Dimensional Targets
• On the Detectability of Light Dark Matter with Superfluid Helium
• Searching for Dark Absorption with Direct Detection Experiments
• Directional Detection of Light Dark Matter with Polar Materials
• Direct Search for Low Mass Dark Matter Particles with CCDs
• Direct Detection of Light Dark Matter and Solar Neutrinos via Color Center Production in Crystals
• Boosted Dark Matter Interpretation of the XENON1T Excess
• Dark Matter and the XENON1T electron recoil excess
• Exploring the robustness of stellar cooling constraints on light particles
• Directional Detection of Dark Matter using Spectroscopy of Crystal Defects
• MICROSCOPE limits for new long-range forces and implications for unified theories
• Neutrino self-interactions and XENON1T electron recoil excess
• Light vector mediators facing XENON1T data
• Supernova signals of light dark matter
• Dark Matter Induced Nucleon Decay: Model and Signatures
• Directional Sensitivity In Light-Mass Dark Matter Searches With Single-Electron Resolution Ionization Detectors
• Dark Matter $Z^{\prime }$ and XENON1T Excess from $U(1{)}_X$ Extended Standard Model
• XENON1T excess in local $Z_2$ DM models with light dark sector
• Feebly Interacting $U(1{)}_{\mathrm{B}-\mathrm{L}}$ Gauge Boson Warm Dark Matter and XENON1T Anomaly
• Dark Matter Accretion into Supermassive Black Holes
• Measurements of anisotropic scintillation efficiency for carbon recoils in a stilbene crystal for dark matter detection
• Directional detection of Dark Matter
• MIMAC: MIcro-tpc MAtrix of Chambers for dark matter directional detection
• Constraints on electron-scattering interpretation of XENON1T excess
• Electromagnetic Signals of Inelastic Dark Matter Scattering
• Dark Matter directional detection: comparison of the track direction determination
• Dark matter repulsion could thwart direct detection

Cited by in corpus (11)

• A Next-Generation Liquid Xenon Observatory for Dark Matter and Neutrino Physics
• Boosted dark matter from diffuse supernova neutrinos
• Shedding New Light on Sterile Neutrinos from XENON1T Experiment
• Evaporation Barrier for Dark Matter in Celestial Bodies
• Astrophysical Observations of a Dark Matter-Baryon Fifth Force
• Terrestrial Probes of Electromagnetically Interacting Dark Radiation
• Explaining The XENON1T Excess With Light Goldstini Dark Matter
• Explorations of pseudo-Dirac dark matter having keV splittings and interacting via transition electric and magnetic dipole moments
• Dark Matter Raining on DUNE and Other Large Volume Detectors
• Dark Kinetic Heating of Exoplanets and Brown Dwarfs
• Interpretation of XENON1T excess with MeV boosted dark matter