Introduction to dark matter experiments

TL;DR

This paper provides an introductory overview of direct dark matter detection experiments, focusing on WIMP signals, experimental techniques, and current status as of 2009, highlighting their ability to probe supersymmetric models.

Contribution

It offers an accessible summary of experimental methods and the status of dark matter searches, emphasizing the characteristics of WIMP signals and recent experimental limits.

Findings

Experiments are probing SUSY models.

Limits on spin-independent WIMP coupling are below 10^-7 pb.

Most experiments share common detection techniques.

Abstract

This is a set of four lectures presented at the Theoretical Advanced Study Institute (TASI-09) in June 2009. I provide an introduction to experiments designed to detect WIMP dark matter directly, focusing on building intuitive understanding of the characteristics of potential WIMP signals and the experimental techniques. After deriving the characteristics of potential signals in direct-detection experiments for standard WIMP models, I summarize the general experimental methods shared by most direct-detection experiments and review the advantages, challenges, and status of such searches (as of late 2009). Experiments are already probing SUSY models, with best limits on the spin-independent coupling below 10^-7 pb.