An antenna for directional detection of WISPy dark matter

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Published 7 November 2013 Published under licence by IOP Publishing Ltd
, , Citation Joerg Jaeckel and Javier Redondo JCAP11(2013)016 DOI 10.1088/1475-7516/2013/11/016

1475-7516/2013/11/016

Abstract

It is an intriguing possibility that the cold dark matter of the Universe may consist of very light and very weakly interacting particles such as axion(-like particles) and hidden photons. This opens up (but also requires) new techniques for direct detection. One possibility is to use reflecting surfaces to facilitate the conversion of dark matter into photons, which can be concentrated in a detector with a suitable geometry. In this note we show that this technique also allows for directional detection and inference of the full vectorial velocity spectrum of the dark matter particles. We also note that the non-vanishing velocity of dark matter particles is relevant for the conception of (non-directional) discovery experiments and outline relevant features.

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