Can the DAMA annual modulation be explained by Dark Matter?

by Thomas Schwetz-Mangold

Friday 24 Oct 2008, 11:30 → 12:30 Europe/Zurich

Universite de Geneve, Auditoire Stueckelberg

I review the results of the DAMA/LIBRA experiment, which recently increased the significance of an annual modulation of their count rate to 8.2 sigma, and discuss also the relevance of the so-called "channeling effect" which has recently been noticed. The phase of the modulation (peaking in June) is in striking agreement with the prediction for the scattering of Dark Matter (DM) particles within the detector. Focusing on spin-independent elastic WIMP scattering, I will argue that this interpretation of DAMA/LIBRA is in sever tension with constraints from other direct DM detection experiments (XENON and CDMS). Departing from this most simple situation, I will also comment briefly on some modifications of astrophysics (DM halo properties) as well as particle physics (WIMP scattering properties).