Paper detail

Direct Dark Matter Detection - A spin 3/2 WIMP candidate

We consider a Dark Matter candidate particle of spin 3/2 with neutrino-like Standard Model strength interactions. In the Majorana case, the particle can account for all of the Dark Matter for a range of masses between 70-160 GeV, depending on the strength of the Higgs couplings. The elementary spin-dependent cross section on the nucleon is calculated to be 1.7 x 10^-2 pb, and does not depend on the mass or any additional parameters. The Dirac case is excluded by the very large coherent cross section. The amplitude at the nuclear level is of the purely isovector form. We make detailed predictions for differential and total rates of scattering on a variety of nuclear targets of interest to the current direct detection experiments. For heavy targets the annual modulation amplitude is predicted to be negative, which may help to determine the mass of the WIMP if and when data become available.