Neutron EDM constrains direct dark matter detection prospects

Understand

A non-relativistic effective field theory (NREFT) offers a bottom-up framework to classify Dark Matter (DM)-nucleon interactions relevant for scattering at direct detection experiments by organizing the interactions in powers of the momentum transfer $\vec{q}$ and DM velocity $\vec{v}$.

• This approach generates a number of operators including P-odd and T-odd operators; these can only be generated from a relativistic theory with CP violating interactions.
• We consider the leading order P-odd, T- odd operators viz.
• $\mathcal{O}_{10}$, $\mathcal{O}_{11}$ and $\mathcal{O}_{12}$ and compare the constraints on these operators from leading direct detection searches and from the bound on the neutron EDM (nEDM).