Phenomenological Introduction to Direct Dark Matter Detection

Abstract

The dark matter of our galactic halo may be constituted by elementary particles that interact weakly with ordinary matter (WIMPs). In spite of the very low counting rates expected for these dark matter particles to scatter off nuclei in a laboratory detector, such direct WIMP searches are possible and are experimentally carried out at present. An introduction to the theoretical ingredients entering the counting rates predictions, together with a short discussion of the major theoretical uncertainties, is here presented.

9 pages. uses epsf, rotate. 4 embedded postscript figures. Invited talk at the XXXI Rencontres de Moriond, "Dark Matter in Cosmology, Quantum Measurements, Experimental Gravitation," Les Arcs, France, January 1996

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