Towards a direct detection of the spin of dark matter
Leah Jenks, Konstantinos Koutrolikos, Evan McDonough, Stephon Alexander, S. James Gates
Abstract
We investigate the contribution of higher spin particles in the signal of direct detection searches for dark matter. We consider a bosonic or fermionic higher spin dark matter (HSDM) candidate which interacts with the Standard Model via a dark U(1) mediator. For a particular subclass of interactions, spin-polarized targets may be used for spin determination: The angular dependence of scatterings can distinguish integer (spin-s) vs. half-integer (spin-s+1/2), while the recoil energy dependence of the signal determines s. We consider also the signal of a supersymmetric higher spin dark sector, which suggests a characteristic signal (“SUSY Rilles”) for directional direct detection.