Work

Detecting dark blobs

Year: 2018

Type: article

Abstract: Current dark matter detection strategies are based on the assumption that the dark matter is a gas of noninteracting particles with a reasonably large number density. This picture is dramatically altered if there are significant self-interactions within the dark sector, potentially resulting in the coalescence of dark matter particles into large composite blobs. The low number density of these blobs necessitates new detector strategies. We study cosmological, astrophysical and direct detection bounds on this scenario and identify experimentally accessible parameter space. The enhanced interaction between large composite states and the standard model allows searches for such composite blobs using existing experimental techniques. This includes the detection of scintillation in MACRO, XENON and LUX; heat in calorimeters such as CDMS; acceleration and strain in gravitational wave detectors such as LIGO and AGIS; and spin precession in CASPEr. These searches leverage the fact that the transit of the dark matter occurs at a speed $\ensuremath{\sim}220\text{ }\text{ }\mathrm{km}/\mathrm{s}$, well separated from relativistic and terrestrial sources of noise. They can be searched for either through modifications to the data analysis protocol or relatively straightforward adjustments to the operating conditions of these experiments.

Source: Physical review. D/Physical review. D.

DOI: 10.1103/physrevd.98.115020

Authors: Dorota M. Grabowska, Tom Melia, Surjeet Rajendran

Institutions: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley, Kavli Institute for the Physics and Mathematics of the Universe, The University of Tokyo

Language: English

Topic: Dark Matter and Cosmic Phenomena

Subfield: Nuclear and High Energy Physics

Field: Physics and Astronomy

Domain: Physical Sciences

Open Access status: hybrid