Theory Seminar (High Energy/Cosmology) |
Events on Tuesday, November 14th, 2017
- A New Dark Matter (in)Direct Search Strategy
- Time: 3:30 pm
- Place: 5280 Chamberlin Hall
- Speaker: Doo Jin Kim, CERN
- Abstract: I propose a new dark matter (DM) detection strategy for models with a non-minimal dark sector. The strategy is to seach for relativistic, inelastic scattering signatures of DM at large-volume neutrino detectors and/or conventional DM direct detection experiments via a DM interaction with target material inside the detector. The signal process is characterized by an inelastic scattering of relativistic/boosted DM, which may arise in multi-component DM scenarios, into a heavier unstable dark-sector state which subsequently decays back into DM along with visible particles. I will argue that the presence of the secondary (visible) decay signature along with an energetic target recoil is very unique, hence allow to unambiguously separate signal events from associated background ones. I will then dicuss some interesting phenomenology including detection prospects at the above-mentioned experiments, taking the dark photon scenario as a benchmark model.