arXiv subjects

Nassim Bozorgnia

Publications and source records attributed to Nassim Bozorgnia.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2018

Opening the energy window on direct dark matter detection

In this article we investigate the benefits of increasing the maximum nuclear recoil energy analysed in dark matter (DM) direct detection experiments. We focus on elastic DM-nucleus interactions, and work within the framework of effective field theory (EFT) to describe the scattering cross section. In agreement with previous literature, we show that an increased maximum energy leads to more stringent upper bounds on the DM-nucleus cross section for the EFT operators, especially those with an explicit momentum dependence. In this article we extend the energy region of interest (ROI) to show that the optimal values of the maximum energy for xenon and argon are of the order of 500 keV and 300 keV, respectively. We then show how, if a signal compatible with DM is observed, an enlarged energy ROI leads to a better measurement of the DM mass and couplings. In particular, for a xenon detector, DM masses of the order of 200 GeV (2 TeV) or lower can be reconstructed for momentum-independent (-dependent) operators. We also investigate three-dimensional parameter reconstruction and apply it to the specific case of scalar DM and anapole DM. We find that opening the energy ROI is an excellent way to identify the linear combination of momentum-dependent and momentum-independent operators, and it is crucial to correctly distinguish these models. Finally, we show how an enlarged energy ROI also allows us to test astrophysical parameters of the DM halo, such as the DM escape speed.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2018

Statistical challenges in the search for dark matter

The search for the particle nature of dark matter has given rise to a number of experimental, theoretical and statistical challenges. Here, we report on a number of these statistical challenges and new techniques to address them, as discussed in the DMStat workshop held Feb 26 - Mar 3 2018 at the Banff International Research Station for Mathematical Innovation and Discovery (BIRS) in Banff, Alberta.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2018

Probing the nature of dark matter particles with stellar streams

A key prediction of the standard cosmological model -- which relies on the assumption that dark matter is cold, i.e. non-relativistic at the epoch of structure formation -- is the existence of a large number of dark matter substructures on sub-galactic scales. This assumption can be tested by studying the perturbations induced by dark matter substructures on cold stellar streams. Here, we study the prospects for discriminating cold from warm dark matter by generating mock data for upcoming astronomical surveys such as the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST), and reconstructing the properties of the dark matter particle from the perturbations induced on the stellar density profile of a stream. We discuss the statistical and systematic uncertainties, and show that the method should allow to set stringent constraints on the mass of thermal dark matter relics, and possibly to yield an actual measurement of the dark matter particle mass if it is in the $\mathcal{O}(1)$ keV range.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2018

Identifying WIMP dark matter from particle and astroparticle data

One of the most promising strategies to identify the nature of dark matter consists in the search for new particles at accelerators and with so-called direct detection experiments. Working within the framework of simplified models, and making use of machine learning tools to speed up statistical inference, we address the question of what we can learn about dark matter from a detection at the LHC and a forthcoming direct detection experiment. We show that with a combination of accelerator and direct detection data, it is possible to identify newly discovered particles as dark matter, by reconstructing their relic density assuming they are weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs) thermally produced in the early Universe, and demonstrating that it is consistent with the measured dark matter abundance. An inconsistency between these two quantities would instead point either towards additional physics in the dark sector, or towards a non-standard cosmology, with a thermal history substantially different from that of the standard cosmological model.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2018

Particle Dark Matter Constraints: the Effect of Galactic Uncertainties

Collider, space, and Earth based experiments are now able to probe several extensions of the Standard Model of particle physics which provide viable dark matter candidates. Direct and indirect dark matter searches rely on inputs of astrophysical nature, such as the local dark matter density or the shape of the dark matter profile in the target in object. The determination of these quantities is highly affected by astrophysical uncertainties. The latter, especially those for our own Galaxy, are ill-known, and often not fully accounted for when analyzing the phenomenology of particle physics models. In this paper we present a systematic, quantitative estimate of how astrophysical uncertainties on Galactic quantities (such as the local galactocentric distance, circular velocity, or the morphology of the stellar disk and bulge) propagate to the determination of the phenomenology of particle physics models, thus eventually affecting the determination of new physics parameters. We present results in the context of two specific extensions of the Standard Model (the Singlet Scalar and the Inert Doublet) that we adopt as case studies for their simplicity in illustrating the magnitude and impact of such uncertainties on the parameter space of the particle physics model itself. Our findings point toward very relevant effects of current Galactic uncertainties on the determination of particle physics parameters, and urge a systematic estimate of such uncertainties in more complex scenarios, in order to achieve constraints on the determination of new physics that realistically include all known uncertainties.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2017

Implications of hydrodynamical simulations for the interpretation of direct dark matter searches

In recent years, realistic hydrodynamical simulations of galaxies like the Milky Way have become available, enabling a reliable estimate of the dark matter density and velocity distribution in the Solar neighborhood. We review here the status of hydrodynamical simulations and their implications for the interpretation of direct dark matter searches. We focus in particular on: the criteria to identify Milky Way-like galaxies; the impact of baryonic physics on the dark matter velocity distribution; the possible presence of substructures like clumps, streams, or dark disks; and on the implications for the direct detection of dark matter with standard and non-standard interactions.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2016

Inverted dipole feature in directional detection of exothermic dark matter

Directional dark matter detection attempts to measure the direction of motion of nuclei recoiling after having interacted with dark matter particles in the halo of our Galaxy. Due to Earth's motion with respect to the Galaxy, the dark matter flux is concentrated around a preferential direction. An anisotropy in the recoil direction rate is expected as an unmistakable signature of dark matter. The average nuclear recoil direction is expected to coincide with the average direction of dark matter particles arriving to Earth. Here we point out that for a particular type of dark matter, inelastic exothermic dark matter, the mean recoil direction as well as a secondary feature, a ring of maximum recoil rate around the mean recoil direction, could instead be opposite to the average dark matter arrival direction. Thus, the detection of an average nuclear recoil direction opposite to the usually expected direction would constitute a spectacular experimental confirmation of this type of dark matter.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2016

Simulated Milky Way analogues: implications for dark matter direct searches

We study the implications of galaxy formation on dark matter direct detection using high resolution hydrodynamic simulations of Milky Way-like galaxies simulated within the EAGLE and APOSTLE projects. We identify Milky Way analogues that satisfy observational constraints on the Milky Way rotation curve and total stellar mass. We then extract the dark matter density and velocity distribution in the Solar neighbourhood for this set of Milky Way analogues, and use them to analyse the results of current direct detection experiments. For most Milky Way analogues, the event rates in direct detection experiments obtained from the best fit Maxwellian distribution (with peak speed of 223 - 289 km/s) are similar to those obtained directly from the simulations. As a consequence, the allowed regions and exclusion limits set by direct detection experiments in the dark matter mass and spin-independent cross section plane shift by a few GeV compared to the Standard Halo Model, at low dark matter masses. For each dark matter mass, the halo-to-halo variation of the local dark matter density results in an overall shift of the allowed regions and exclusion limits for the cross section. However, the compatibility of the possible hints for a dark matter signal from DAMA and CDMS-Si and null results from LUX and SuperCDMS is not improved.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2015

Dark matter annihilation radiation in hydrodynamic simulations of Milky Way haloes

We obtain predictions for the properties of cold dark matter annihilation radiation using high resolution hydrodynamic zoom-in cosmological simulations of Milky Way-like galaxies (APOSTLE project) carried out as part of the "Evolution and Assembly of GaLaxies and their Environments" (EAGLE) programme. Galactic halos in the simulation have significantly different properties from those assumed in the "standard halo model" often used in dark matter detection studies. The formation of the galaxy causes a contraction of the dark matter halo, whose density profile develops a steeper slope than the Navarro-Frenk-White (NFW) profile between $r\approx1.5$ kpc and $r\approx10$ kpc. At smaller radii, $r\lesssim1.5$ kpc, the halos develop a flatter than NFW slope. This unexpected feature may be specific to our particular choice of subgrid physics model but nevertheless the dark matter density profiles agree within 30% as the mass resolution is increased by a factor 150. The inner regions of the halos are almost perfectly spherical (axis ratios $b/a > 0.97$ within $r=1$ kpc) and there is no offset larger than 45 pc between the centre of the stellar distribution and the centre of the dark halo. The morphology of the predicted dark matter annihilation radiation signal is in broad agreement with $γ$-ray observations at large Galactic latitudes ($b\gtrsim3^\circ$). At smaller angles, the inferred signal in one of our four galaxies is similar to that which is observed but it is significantly weaker in the other three.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2014

What is the probability that direct detection experiments have observed Dark Matter?

In Dark Matter direct detection we are facing the situation of some experiments reporting positive signals which are in conflict with limits from other experiments. Such conclusions are subject to large uncertainties introduced by the poorly known local Dark Matter distribution. We present a method to calculate an upper bound on the joint probability of obtaining the outcome of two potentially conflicting experiments under the assumption that the Dark Matter hypothesis is correct, but completely independent of assumptions about the Dark Matter distribution. In this way we can quantify the compatibility of two experiments in an astrophysics independent way. We illustrate our method by testing the compatibility of the hints reported by DAMA and CDMS-Si with the limits from the LUX and SuperCDMS experiments. The method does not require Monte Carlo simulations but is mostly based on using Poisson statistics. In order to deal with signals of few events we introduce the so-called "signal length" to take into account energy information. The signal length method provides a simple way to calculate the probability to obtain a given experimental outcome under a specified Dark Matter and background hypothesis.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2014

Is the effect of the Sun's gravitational potential on dark matter particles observable?

We consider the effect of the Sun's gravitational potential on the local phase space distribution of dark matter particles, focusing on its implication for the annual modulation signal in direct detection experiments. We perform a fit to the modulation signal observed in DAMA/LIBRA and show that the allowed region shrinks if Solar gravitational focusing (GF) is included compared to the one without GF. Furthermore, we consider a possible signal in a generic future direct detection experiment, irrespective of the DAMA/LIBRA signal. Even for scattering cross sections close to the current bound and a large exposure of a xenon target with 270 ton yr it will be hard to establish the presence of GF from data. In the region of dark matter masses below 40 GeV an annual modulation signal can be established for our assumed experimental setup, however GF is negligible for low masses. In the high mass region, where GF is more important, the significance of annual modulation itself is very low. We obtain similar results for lighter targets such as Ge and Ar. We comment also on inelastic scattering, noting that GF becomes somewhat more important for exothermic scattering compared to the elastic case.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2013

Anisotropic dark matter distribution functions and impact on WIMP direct detection

Dark matter N-body simulations suggest that the velocity distribution of dark matter is anisotropic. In this work we employ a mass model for the Milky Way whose parameters are determined from a fit to kinematical data. Then we adopt an ansatz for the dark matter phase space distribution which allows to construct self-consistent halo models which feature a degree of anisotropy as a function of the radius such as suggested by the simulations. The resulting velocity distributions are then used for an analysis of current data from dark matter direct detection experiments. We find that velocity distributions which are radially biased at large galactocentric distances (up to the virial radius) lead to an increased high velocity tail of the local dark matter distribution. This affects the interpretation of data from direct detection experiments, especially for dark matter masses around 10 GeV, since in this region the high velocity tail is sampled. We find that the allowed regions in the dark matter mass-cross section plane as indicated by possible hints for a dark matter signal reported by several experiments as well as conflicting exclusion limits from other experiments shift in a similar way when the halo model is varied. Hence, it is not possible to improve the consistency of the data by referring to anisotropic halo models of the type considered in this work.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2013

Halo-independent methods for inelastic dark matter scattering

We present halo-independent methods to analyze the results of dark matter direct detection experiments assuming inelastic scattering. We focus on the annual modulation signal reported by DAMA/LIBRA and present three different halo-independent tests. First, we compare it to the upper limit on the unmodulated rate from XENON100 using (a) the trivial requirement that the amplitude of the annual modulation has to be smaller than the bound on the unmodulated rate, and (b) a bound on the annual modulation amplitude based on an expansion in the Earth's velocity. The third test uses the special predictions of the signal shape for inelastic scattering and allows for an internal consistency check of the data without referring to any astrophysics. We conclude that a strong conflict between DAMA/LIBRA and XENON100 in the framework of spin-independent inelastic scattering can be established independently of the local properties of the dark matter halo.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2012

Aberration features in directional dark matter detection

The motion of the Earth around the Sun causes an annual change in the magnitude and direction of the arrival velocity of dark matter particles on Earth, in a way analogous to aberration of stellar light. In directional detectors, aberration of weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs) modulates the pattern of nuclear recoil directions in a way that depends on the orbital velocity of the Earth and the local galactic distribution of WIMP velocities. Knowing the former, WIMP aberration can give information on the latter, besides being a curious way of confirming the revolution of the Earth and the extraterrestrial provenance of WIMPs. While observing the full aberration pattern requires extremely large exposures, we claim that the annual variation of the mean recoil direction or of the event counts over specific solid angles may be detectable with moderately large exposures. For example, integrated counts over Galactic hemispheres separated by planes perpendicular to Earth's orbit would modulate annually, resulting in Galactic Hemisphere Annual Modulations (GHAM) with amplitudes larger than the usual non-directional annual modulation.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2012

Ring-like features in directional dark matter detection

We discuss a novel dark matter signature relevant for directional detection of Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs). For heavy enough WIMPs and low enough recoil energies, the maximum of the recoil rate is not in the direction of the average WIMP arrival direction but in a ring around it at an angular radius that increases with the WIMP mass and can approach 90 degrees at very low energies. The ring is easier to detect for smaller WIMP velocity dispersion and larger average WIMP velocities relative to the detector. In principle the ring could be used as an additional indication of the WIMP mass range.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2011

Daily Modulation of the Dark Matter Signal in Crystalline Detectors

The channeling effect in crystals refers to the orientation dependence of charged ion penetration in crystals. In direct dark matter crystalline detectors, a channeled ion recoiling after a collision with a WIMP gives all its energy to electrons. Thus channeling increases the ionization or scintillation signal expected from a WIMP. Channeling is a directional effect which depends on the velocity distribution of WIMPs in the dark halo of our Galaxy and could lead to a daily modulation of the signal. I will present estimates of the expected amplitude of the daily modulation in direct dark matter detectors, both due to channeling and just due to the rotational velocity of the Earth around itself.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2011

Daily modulation due to channeling in direct dark matter crystalline detectors

The channeling of the ion recoiling after a collision with a WIMP in direct dark matter crystalline detectors produces a larger scintillation or ionization signal than otherwise expected. Channeling is a directional effect which depends on the velocity distribution of WIMPs in the dark halo of our Galaxy and could lead to a daily modulation of the signal. Here we compute upper bounds to the expected amplitude of daily modulation due to channeling using channeling fractions that we obtained with analytic models in prior work. After developing the general formalism, we examine the possibility of finding a daily modulation due to channeling in the data already collected by the DAMA/NaI and DAMA/LIBRA experiments. We find that even the largest daily modulation amplitudes (of the order of 10% in some instances) would not be observable for WIMPs in the standard halo in the 13 years of data taken by the DAMA collaboration. For these to be observable the DAMA total rate should be 1/40 of what it is or the total DAMA exposure should be 40 times larger. The daily modulation due to channeling will be difficult to measure in future experiments. We find it could be observed for light WIMPs in solid Ne, assuming no background.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2011

Channeling in solid Xe, Ar and Ne direct dark matter detectors

The channeling of the ion recoiling after a collision with a WIMP changes the ionization signal in direct detection experiments, producing a larger scintillation or ionization signal than otherwise expected. We give estimates of the fraction of channeled recoiling ions in solid Xe, Ar and Ne crystals using analytic models produced since the 1960's and 70's to describe channeling and blocking effects.

astro-ph.CO↗