Direct Dark Matter Search
1IPHC, CNRS/IN2P3, 67037 Strasbourg, France
2APC, Université Paris Diderot, CNRS/IN2P3, CEA/IRFU, Observatoire de Paris, Sorbonne, Paris Cité, 75205 Paris, France
3Columbia University, Physics Department, Astrophysics Laboratory, 550 W 120th Street, New York, NY 10027, USA
4INFN Sezione di Pavia, Via Bassi 6, 27100 Pavia, Italy
5INFN, Padova, Italy
Direct Dark Matter Search
Description
About 80 years elapsed from the first postulation by Zwicky of the existence of dark matter, and although simple indirect observations demonstrated its existence, its nature is still nowadays an urgent open question for astrophysicist and cosmologists. Promising candidates to solve the dark matter problem are the Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs), which are expected to scatter off ordinary nuclei at very low rates (~1/ton/year for 10−47 cm2), yielding very low energy depositions (<100 keV). Therefore, even if dark matter constitutes about 25% of the total energy of the universe, its direct detection is extremely challenging.
In the near future, the Large Hadron Collider may have the chance to produce WIMPs in the laboratory. Besides, WIMPs of the galactic halo can be already directly detected by presently running experiments, relying on different technologies, like scintillating crystals, low temperature detectors, and noble liquids.
The current status of art presents tensions among limits and results from different measurements. The next generation of experiments, thanks to the higher sensitivities and the technological improvements, will hopefully unravel the puzzle.
We invite authors to submit original research papers as well as review papers that deal with the direct detection of cold dark matter. We are particularly interested in papers that discuss the different technologies used nowadays, as well as the possible outreach of the present/next generation of experiments, and their scientific impact. Potential topics include, but are not limited to:
- Review of the present/next generation of experiments
- Overview of the direct dark matter search results
Before submission authors should carefully read over the journal’s Author Guidelines, which are located at http://www.hindawi.com/journals/ahep/guidelines/. Prospective authors should submit an electronic copy of their complete manuscript through the journal Manuscript Tracking System at http://mts.hindawi.com/submit/journals/ahep/dms/ according to the following timetable: