Superweakly interacting massive particle solutions to small scale structure problems

Collisionless, cold dark matter in the form of weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs) is well motivated in particle physics, naturally yields the observed relic density, and successfully explains structure formation on large scales. On small scales, however, it predicts too much power, leading to cuspy halos, dense cores, and large numbers of subhalos, in apparent conflict with observations. We consider super-WIMP dark matter, produced with large velocity in late decays at times 10(5) - 10(8) s. As analyzed by Kaplinghat in a more general setting, we find that super-WIMPs have sufficiently large free-streaming lengths and low phase space densities to help resolve small scale structure problems while preserving all of the above-mentioned WIMP virtues.     

New contribution to scattering of weakly interacting massive particles on nuclei

A weakly interacting massive particle (WIMP) is perhaps the most promising candidate for the dark matter in the Galactic halo. The WIMP detection rate in laboratory searches is fixed by the cross section for elastic WIMP-nucleus scattering. Here we calculate the contribution to this cross section from two-nucleon currents from pion exchange in the nucleus and show that it may, in some cases, be comparable to the one-nucleon current that has been considered in prior work and perhaps help resolve the discrepancies between the various direct dark-matter search experiments. We provide simple expressions that allow these new contributions to be included in current calculations.     

Effects of nuclear structure in the spin-dependent scattering of weakly interacting massive particles

We present calculations of the nuclear from factors for spin-dependent elastic scattering of dark matter WIMPs from¹²³Te and¹³¹Xe isotopes, proposed to be used for dark matter detection. A method based on the theory of finite Fermi systems was used to describe the reduction of the single-particle spin-dependent matrix elements in the nuclear medium. Nucleon single-particle states were calculated in a realistic shell model potential; pairing effects were treated within the BCS model. The coupling of the lowest single-particle levels in¹²³Te to collective 2⁺ excitations of the core was taken into account phenomenologically. The calculated nuclear form factors are considerably less then the single-particle ones for low momentum transfer. At high momentum transfer some dynamical amplification takes place due to the pion exchange term in the effective nuclear interaction. But as the momentum transfer increases, the difference disappears, the momentum transfer increases and the quenching effect disappears. The shape of the nuclear form factor for the¹³¹Xe isotope differs from the one obtained using an oscillator basis.     

Quenching of the spin-dependent scattering of weakly interacting massive particles on heavy nuclei

We present calculations of the quenching of the spin-dependent elastic scattering cross section for dark matter WIMPs on heavy nuclei. The theory of finite Fermi systems was used to describe the behavior of the nuclear spin matrix elements in the nuclear medium. The results of the calculations for planned dark matter detector nuclei are not only always smaller than corresponding single particle estimations but in some cases also differ from the ones obtained by using measured nuclear magnetic moments.One of the authors (M.A.N.) wants to thank the Max-Planck-Institut für Kernphysik (Heidelberg, Germany) for the hospitality during the time in which this work was carried out, and the Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst (DAAD) for financial support.     

Nonthermal production of weakly interacting massive particles and the subgalactic structure of the universe

There is increasing evidence that conventional cold dark matter (CDM) models lead to conflicts between observations and numerical simulations of dark matter halos on subgalactic scales, which rules out the favored candidates for CDM, namely weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs). We propose a mechanism of nonthermal production of WIMPs and study its implications on the power spectrum. Our results show that, in this context, WIMPs as candidates for dark matter can work well both on large scales and on subgalactic scales.     

Identification of weakly interacting massive particles through a combined measurement of axial and scalar couplings

We study the prospects for detecting weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs) in a number of phenomenological scenarios, with a detector composed of a target simultaneously sensitive to both spin-dependent and spin-independent couplings, as is the case of COUPP (Chicagoland Observatory for Underground Particle Physics). First, we show that sensitivity to both couplings optimizes chances of initial WIMP detection. Second, we demonstrate that, in case of detection, a comparison of the signal on two complementary targets, such as in COUPP CF3I and C4F10 bubble chambers, allows a significantly more precise determination of the dark matter axial and scalar couplings. This strategy would provide crucial information on the nature of the WIMPs and possibly allow discrimination between neutralino and Kaluza-Klein dark matter.     

Supertwistors and massive particles

In the (super)twistor formulation of massless (super)particle mechanics, the mass-shell constraint is replaced by a “spin-shell” constraint from which the spin content can be read off. We extend this formalism to massive (super)particles (with N$N$-extended space–time supersymmetry) in three and four space–time dimensions, explaining how the spin-shell constraints are related to spin, and we use it to prove equivalence of the massive N=1$N=1$ and BPS-saturated N=2$N=2$ superparticle actions. We also find the supertwistor form of the action for “spinning particles” with N$N$-extended worldline supersymmetry, massless in four dimensions and massive in three dimensions, and we show how this simplifies special features of the N=2$N=2$ case.     

Limits on interactions between weakly interacting massive particles and nucleons obtained with CsI(Tl) crystal detectors

The Korea Invisible Mass Search (KIMS) experiment presents new limits on the weakly interacting massive particle (WIMP)-nucleon cross section using data from an exposure of 3409 kg.d taken with low-background CsI(Tl) crystals at the Yangyang Underground Laboratory. The most stringent limit on the spin-dependent interaction for a pure proton case is obtained. The DAMA signal region for both spin-independent and spin-dependent interactions for the WIMP masses greater than 20 GeV/c2 is excluded by the single experiment with crystal scintillators.     

Stable massive particles at colliders

We review the theoretical motivations and experimental status of searches for stable massive particles (SMPs) which could be sufficiently long-lived as to be directly detected at collider experiments. The discovery of such particles would address a number of important questions in modern physics including the origin and composition of dark matter in the universe and the unification of the fundamental forces. This review describes the techniques used in SMP-searches at collider experiments and the limits so far obtained on the production of SMPs which possess various colour, electric and magnetic charge quantum numbers. We also describe theoretical scenarios which predict SMPs along with the phenomenology needed to model their production at colliders and interactions with matter. In addition, the interplay between collider searches and open questions in cosmology such as dark matter composition is addressed.     

Equilibrium fluctuations for interacting Brownian particles

We consider an infinitely extended system of Brownian particles interacting by a pair force-gradV. Their initial distribution is stationary and given by the Gibbs measure associated with the potentialV with fugacityz. We assume thatV is symmetric, finite range, three times continuously differentiable, superstable, and positive and that the fugacity is small in the sense that 0z0.28/edq(1-e ^–V(q)). In addition a certain essential self-adjointness property is assumed. We prove then that the time-dependent fluctuations in the density on a spatial scale of order ^–1 and on a time scale of order ^–2 converge as 0 to a Gaussian field with covariance dqg(q)(e ^(/2)|t| f)(q) withp the density and the compressibility.     

New limits on interactions between weakly interacting massive particles and nucleons obtained with CsI(Tl) crystal detectors

New limits are presented on the cross section for weakly interacting massive particle (WIMP) nucleon scattering in the KIMS CsI(T?) detector array at the Yangyang Underground Laboratory. The exposure used for these results is 24?524.3 kg·days. Nuclei recoiling from WIMP interactions are identified by a pulse shape discrimination method. A low energy background due to alpha emitters on the crystal surfaces is identified and taken into account in the analysis. The detected numbers of nuclear recoils are consistent with zero and 90% confidence level upper limits on the WIMP interaction rates are set for electron equivalent energies from 3 to 11 keV. The 90% upper limit of the nuclear recoil event rate for 3.6-5.8 keV corresponding to 2-4 keV in NaI(T?) is 0.0098 counts/kg/keV/day, which is below the annual modulation amplitude reported by DAMA. This is incompatible with interpretations that enhance the modulation amplitude such as inelastic dark matter models. We establish the most stringent cross section limits on spin-dependent WIMP-proton elastic scattering for the WIMP masses greater than 20 GeV/c2.