Prospects for direct detection of galactic dark matter

by R. Catena (Göttingen)

Thursday 13 Nov 2014, 14:00 → 15:00 Europe/Berlin

HS3 (Physikdepartment)

Dark matter constitutes about five sixth of the total matter in the observable Universe, and forms large spheroidal halos hosting the majority of the astrophysical structures, including our Milky Way. Yet, the particles forming the Milky Way dark matter halo have so far escaped detection, and the dark matter particle mass, as well as its interactions, remain unknown. The detection of dark matter particles in the solar neighborhood through their scattering off nuclei of a terrestrial detector would provide us with a direct measurement of the dark matter particle mass, and of the strength of the dark matter-nucleon interaction. To accomplish this goal is the aim of the dark matter direct detection technique. In this talk, I review the status and illustrate the prospects of this rapidly evolving research area. The focus of my talk is on a new theoretical approach to the interpretation of direct detection experiments that combines the concept of effective field theory with advanced Bayesian and frequentists statistical methods.