Peaked Signals from Dark Matter Velocity Structures in Direct Detection Experiments

TL;DR

This paper explores how dark matter velocity structures like streams can produce extremely narrow peaks in direct detection recoil spectra, enabling precise measurements of dark matter velocity distributions and distinguishing signals from backgrounds.

Contribution

It demonstrates that dark matter streams can create sharp recoil peaks, significantly improving the potential to analyze dark matter velocity structures in direct detection experiments.

Findings

Dark matter streams produce narrow recoil peaks with FWHM of a few keV.

Such peaks can be distinguished from backgrounds via enhanced annual modulation.

The observed CRESST events could be explained by this scenario.

Abstract

In direct dark matter detection experiments, conventional elastic scattering of WIMPs results in exponentially falling recoil spectra. In contrast, theories of WIMPs with excited states can lead to nuclear recoil spectra that peak at finite recoil energies E_R. The peaks of such signals are typically fairly broad, with Delta E_R/E_peak ~ 1. We show that in the presence of dark matter structures with low velocity dispersion, such as streams or clumps, peaks from up-scattering can become extremely narrow with FWHM of a few keV only. This differs dramatically from the conventionally expected WIMP spectrum and would, once detected, open the possibility to measure the dark matter velocity structure with a fantastic accuracy. As an intriguing example, we confront the observed cluster of 3 events near 42 keV from the CRESST commissioning run with this scenario, and find a wide range of parameters capable for producing such a peak. We compare the possible signals at other experiments, and find that such a particle could also give rise to the signal at DAMA, although not from the same stream. Over some range of parameters a signal would be visible at xenon experiments. We show that such dark matter peaks are a very clear signal, and can be easily disentangled from potential backgrounds, both terrestrial or due to WIMP down-scattering, by an enhanced annual modulation signature in both the amplitude of the signal and its shape.