Searching for Dark Matter-Can it be directly detected?

We compute the neutralino-nucleon cross section in several supersymmetric scenarios, taking into account all kind of experimental and astrophysical constraints. In addition, the constraints that the absence of dangerous charge and colour breaking minima imposes on the parameter space are also considered. This computation is relevant for the theoretical analysis of the direct detection of dark matter in current experiments. We discuss interesting supergravity and superstring s...

As cosmology has entered a phase of precision experiments, the content of the universe has been established to contain interesting and not yet fully understood components, namely dark energy and dark matter. While the cause and exact nature of the dark energy remains mysterious, there is greater hope to connect the dark matter to current models of particle physics. Supersymmetric models provide several excellent candidates for dark matter, with the lightest neutralino the pri...

Various methods of searching for supersymmetric dark matter are sensitive to WIMPs with different properties. One consequence of this is that the phenomenology of dark matter detection can vary dramatically in different supersymmetric breaking scenarios. In this paper, we consider the sensitivities to supersymmetric dark matter of different detection methods and techniques in a wide variety of supersymmetric breaking scenarios. We discuss the ability of various astrophysica...

The detection of the theoretically expected dark matter is central to particle physics and cosmology. Current fashionable supersymmetric models provide a natural dark matter candidate which is the lightest supersymmetric particle (LSP). Such models combined with fairly well understood physics like the quark substructure of the nucleon and the nuclear structure (form factor and/or spin response function), permit the evaluation of the event rate for LSP-nucleus elastic scatteri...

We examine the prospects for supersymmetry discovery in the minimal supergravity (mSUGRA) model via indirect detection of neutralino dark matter. We investigate rates for muon detection in neutrino telescopes, and detection of photons, positrons and anti-protons by balloon and space based experiments. We compare the discovery reach in these channels with the reach for direct detection of dark matter, and also with the reach of collider experiments such as Fermilab Tevatron, C...

Direct dark matter detection is considered in the Next-to-Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (NMSSM). The effective neutralino-quark Lagrangian is obtained and event rates are calculated for the Ge-73 isotope. Accelerator and cosmological constraints on the NMSSM parameter space are included. By means of scanning the parameter space at the Fermi scale we show that the lightest neutralino could be detected in dark matter experiments with sizable event rate.

{\tenrm The possibility of detecting supersymmetric dark matter is examined within the framework of the minimal supergravity model (MSGM), where the $\tilde{Z}_{1}$ is the LSP for almost the entire parameter space. A brief discussion is given of experimental strategies for detecting dark matter. The relic density is constrained to obey 0.10 $\leq \Omega_{\tilde{Z}_{1}}h^2 \leq$0.35, consistent with COBE data. Expected event rates for an array of possible terrestial detectors ...

Neutralinos are natural candidates for cold dark matter in many realizations of supersymmetry. We briefly review our recent results in the evaluation of neutralino relic abundance and direct detection rates in a class of supergravity models.

This paper provides a comprehensive discussion of neutralino dark matter within classes of extended supersymmetric models referred to as the USSM containing one additional SM singlet Higgs plus an extra $Z'$, together with their superpartners the singlino and bino'. These extra states of the USSM can significantly modify the nature and properties of neutralino dark matter relative to that of the minimal (or even next-to-minimal) supersymmetric standard models. We derive the F...

We review the prospects of detecting supersymmetric dark matter in the framework of the Constrained Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model, and compare indirect with direct detection capabilities.