Parity Violation in Composite Inelastic Dark Matter Models
11/23/2009
44 citations (32 excluding self-citations).
The Key Idea
In composite inelastic dark matter models, the mass splitting between dark matter states arises dynamically from compositeness. This paper shows that higher-dimensional operators in the CiDM effective Lagrangian generically introduce parity violation, which opens up an admixture of both elastic and inelastic scattering channels off nuclei. The ratio of elastic to inelastic scattering is controlled by the degree of parity violation.
Even at near-maximal parity violation, the resulting direct detection signals remain consistent with experimental constraints. The interplay of multiple scattering channels produces distinctive phenomenology: the elastic component can dominate at low recoil energies while the inelastic component shapes the high-energy tail, offering a richer experimental target than purely inelastic models.