Searches for light dark matter using condensed matter systems

Understand

Identifying the nature of dark matter (DM) has long been a pressing question for particle physics.

• In the face of ever-more-powerful exclusions and null results from large-exposure searches for TeV-scale DM interacting with nuclei, a significant amount of attention has shifted to lighter (sub-GeV) DM candidates.
• Direct detection of the light dark matter in our galaxy by observing DM scattering off a target system requires new approaches compared to prior searches.
• Lighter DM particles have less available kinetic energy, and achieving a kinematic match between DM and the target mandates the proper treatment of collective excitations in condensed matter systems, such as charged quasiparticles or phonons.