DAMA and the self similar infall halo model

TL;DR

This paper explores a self similar infall halo model for dark matter, showing it can explain DAMA's annual modulation results and suggesting future experiments could differentiate between halo models.

Contribution

It introduces and tests the self similar infall halo model against DAMA data, highlighting its consistency and implications for WIMP mass and cross-section.

Findings

Self similar infall model fits DAMA data at high WIMP masses.

Adding a thermal component explains low WIMP mass compatibility.

Recoil rate depends on the ratio of cross-section to WIMP mass.

Abstract

The annual modulation in the rate of WIMP recoils observed by the DAMA collaboration at high significance is often analyzed in the context of an isothermal Maxwell-Boltzmann velocity distribution. While this is the simplest model, there is a need to consider other well motivated theories of halo formation. In this paper, we study a different halo model, that of self similar infall which is characterized by the presence of a number of cold streams and caustics, not seen in simulations. It is shown that the self similar infall model is consistent with the DAMA result both in amplitude and in phase, for WIMP masses exceeding $\approx$ 250 GeV at the 99.7% confidence level. Adding a small thermal component makes the parameter space near $m_\chi$ = 12 GeV consistent with the self similar model. The minimum $\chi^2$ per degree of freedom is found to be 0.92(1.03) with(without) channeling taken into account, indicating an acceptable fit. For WIMP masses much greater than the mass of the target nucleus, the recoil rate depends only on the ratio $\sigma_{\rm p}/m_\chi$ which is found to be $\approx$ 0.06 femtobarn/TeV. However as in the case of the isothermal halo, the allowed parameter space is inconsistent with the null result obtained by the CDMS and Xenon experiments for spin-independent elastic scattering. Future experiments with directional sensitivity and mass bounds from accelerator experiments will help to distinguish between different halo models and/or constrain the contribution from cold flows.