MSc. Yu Chen

T a l k : 30. January 2025

Direct Detection of Boosted Light Dark Matter

Abstract

Dark Matter (DM) direct detection experiments look for the recoil signals triggered by DM particles scattering off target particles. These experiments usually have an energy threshold of keV order, making them insensitive to local DM with small masses. This limitation of the direct detection can be overcome with the help of boosted DM. In this study, I showed that through up-scatterings from cosmic rays, a fraction of (semi-)relativistic DM particles is obtained, and they eventually induce visible recoils in the detector by means of the very same interactions that accelerated them. It provides a promising avenue for probing small DM mass domains that were previously beyond the reach of DM direct detection.