# Astrophysical uncertainties on the local dark matter distribution and direct detection experiments

## TL;DR

This paper reviews how uncertainties in local dark matter properties affect direct detection experiments and discusses methods to account for these astrophysical uncertainties.

## Contribution

It provides a comprehensive review of observational and simulated data on local dark matter distribution and evaluates methods to incorporate astrophysical uncertainties into detection analyses.

## Key findings

- Uncertainties in dark matter density impact detection constraints.
- Simulations reveal variations in local dark matter velocity distributions.
- Methods to handle astrophysical uncertainties improve reliability of detection results.

## Abstract

The differential event rate in Weakly Interacting Massive Particle (WIMP) direct detection experiments depends on the local dark matter density and velocity distribution. Accurate modelling of the local dark matter distribution is therefore required to obtain reliable constraints on the WIMP particle physics properties. Data analyses typically use a simple Standard Halo Model which might not be a good approximation to the real Milky Way (MW) halo. We review observational determinations of the local dark matter density, circular speed and escape speed and also studies of the local dark matter distribution in simulated MW-like galaxies. We discuss the effects of the uncertainties in these quantities on the energy spectrum and its time and direction dependence. Finally we conclude with an overview of various methods for handling these astrophysical uncertainties.