Dark matter local density determination: recent observations and future prospects

Understand

This report summarises progress made in estimating the local density of dark matter ($\rho_{\mathrm{DM,\odot}}$), a quantity that is especially important for dark matter direct detection experiments.

• We outline and compare the most common methods to estimate $\rho_{\mathrm{DM,\odot}}$ and the results from recent studies, including those that have benefited from the observations of the ESA/Gaia satellite.
• The result of most local analyses coincide within a range of $\rho_{\mathrm{DM,\odot}} \simeq \text{0.4--0.6}\,\mathrm{GeV/cm^3} = \text{0.011--0.016}\,\mathrm{M_\odot / pc^3}$, while a slightly lower range of $\rho_{\mathrm{DM,\odot}} \simeq \text{0.3--0.5}\,\mathrm{GeV/cm^3} = \text{0.008--0.013}\,\mathrm{M_\odot / pc^3}$ is preferred by most global studies.
• In light of recent discoveries, we discuss the importance of going beyond the approximations of what we define as the Ideal Galaxy (a steady-state Galaxy with axisymmetric shape and a mirror symmetry across the mid-plane) in order to improve the precision of $\rho_{\mathrm{DM,\odot}}$ measurements.