WIMP identification through a combined measurement of axial and scalar couplings

TL;DR

This paper explores how combined measurements of axial and scalar couplings in detectors like COUPP can enhance WIMP detection prospects and help distinguish between different dark matter models.

Contribution

It demonstrates that simultaneous sensitivity to both couplings improves detection chances and allows for better characterization of WIMPs, aiding in model discrimination.

Findings

Sensitivity to both couplings optimizes initial detection.

Comparison of signals from different targets refines coupling measurements.

Strategy aids in distinguishing neutralino from Kaluza-Klein dark matter.

Abstract

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, 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.