Boosted dark matter at neutrino experiments

Current and future neutrino experiments can be used to discover dark matter, not only in searches for dark matter annihilating to neutrinos, but also in scenarios where dark matter itself scatters off standard model particles in the detector. In this work, we study the sensitivity of different neutr...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Necib, Lina, Moon, Jarrett S., Wongjirad, Taritree, Conrad, Janet Marie
Other Authors: Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Center for Theoretical Physics
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: American Physical Society 2017
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/108468
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2806-1414
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8346-8375
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6358-6235
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6393-0438
Description
Summary:Current and future neutrino experiments can be used to discover dark matter, not only in searches for dark matter annihilating to neutrinos, but also in scenarios where dark matter itself scatters off standard model particles in the detector. In this work, we study the sensitivity of different neutrino detectors to a class of models called boosted dark matter, in which a subdominant component of a dark sector acquires a large Lorentz boost today through annihilation of a dominant component in a dark matter-dense region, such as the galactic Center or dwarf spheroidal galaxies. This analysis focuses on the sensitivity of different neutrino detectors, specifically the Cherenkov-based Super-K and the future argon-based DUNE to boosted dark matter that scatters off electrons. We study the dependence of the expected limits on the experimental features, such as energy threshold, volume and exposure in the limit of constant scattering amplitude. We highlight experiment-specific features that enable current and future neutrino experiments to be a powerful tool in finding signatures of boosted dark matter.