I understand that experiments at LUX, XENON and LHC have eliminated many of the predicted masses for candidates for Dark Matter. Does anyone know what the current lowest possible mass is that hasn't been eliminated through experiments? What does that work out to in terms of cross section?
$\begingroup$
$\endgroup$
7
-
$\begingroup$ Do you mean that the LHC has set lower limits on the masses of supersymmetric particles that might form dark matter, and you're asking about those limits? The LHC itself is not an especially useful probe of dark matter compared to the many direct detection experiments done or in progress like XENON. $\endgroup$– John RennieCommented Aug 2, 2019 at 13:12
-
$\begingroup$ Yes, I'm asking about those limits. $\endgroup$– user32023Commented Aug 2, 2019 at 16:13
-
1$\begingroup$ en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Axion $\endgroup$– probably_someoneCommented Aug 2, 2019 at 16:14
-
$\begingroup$ @probably_someone - The referenced article contains no useful information. Did I miss something where they talked about the constraints on mass or cross section? $\endgroup$– user32023Commented Aug 2, 2019 at 18:27
-
$\begingroup$ It also depends on what model of dark matter candidate you're talking about, there exists a very nice plot for the bounds set for WIMP nucleon scattering.. researchgate.net/figure/… $\endgroup$– TriatticusCommented Aug 2, 2019 at 19:49
|
Show 2 more comments
1 Answer
$\begingroup$
$\endgroup$
No, these experiments have not ruled out any dark matter mass range. For a given dark matter mass, they have ruled out vast swathes of dark matter couplings. Those couplings and masses are very well motivated, but for any given mass, there could still be weaker or other couplings, that are still perfectly allowed.
Dark matter masses lighter than some $10^{-20}$eV have been ruled out by dwarf galaxies, and above asteroid mass (or if you are picky, above 10-solar-masses) have been ruled out e.g. by searches for gravitational microlenses and the stability of binaries. All masses in between are still perfectly allowed though.
