ITP |
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Teilchentee SS 2018
Seminar at the Institute for Theoretical Physics, Heidelberg University
on Thursdays, 4 pm
organizers: Astrid Eichhorn, Jan M. Pawlowski
Before each seminar, the speaker gives an informal Pre-Talk, introducing the MSc and PhD students at the ITP to the broader context of the topic of the seminar.
Pre-Talks start at 3:30 pm
Date: 21.6.2018
Speaker: Achim Schwenk (Darmstadt)
Title: Chiral effective field theory for dark matter direct detection
Abstract
We discuss the application of chiral EFT in the calculation of nuclear responses for the scattering of WIMPs off nuclear targets. A consistent interpretation of the limits set by current and future direct detection searches in terms of the WIMP parameter space requires the use of a series of EFTs to bridge the gap between the scales of physics beyond the standard model and the nuclear physics scales to which the experimental searches are sensitive. Chiral EFT incorporates the constraints from the spontaneous breaking of the chiral symmetry of QCD in nucleon matrix elements and the nuclear response functions, and thus provides the necessary formalism to describe the hadronic and nuclear aspects of direct detection experiments. We review the current status of calculations both for nuclear structure factors and nucleon matrix elements, in particular including the role of subleading corrections beyond the standard spin-independent and spin-dependent responses. Finally, we discuss the impact on direct detection searches and collider experiments through Higgs portal models.
