The Low-Mass Dark Matter Frontier
December 11, 2020•
Physics 13, 172
Traditional searches for dark matter rely on giant detectors that look for particles heavier than a proton, but sights are turning to smaller experiments with sensitivity to lighter-mass particles. ARTICLE TAKEAWAYS
There is a crucial need to explore dark matter candidates across a much wider mass range than that of the WIMP.
New detection schemes will allow researchers to search for so-called sub-GeV dark matter, which can be up to one million times lighter than the mass of the proton.
The new schemes rely on inelastic collisions between a dark matter particle and electrons or nuclei in various materials, such as semiconductors, scintillators, and superconductors.