Angelo Esposito (U. Roma la Sapienza)

Low energy strategies for sub-GeV dark matter detection

Following the current null results in direct WIMP searches, a good deal of attention has been paid to possible models of dark matter with masses below the GeV, and how to look for it. I will discuss what challenges one faces when attempting a detection of sub-GeV dark matter, and the corresponding ways out. Specifically, for the GeV to MeV range, I will discuss the so-called Migdal effect, and present a systematic formalism for its description in solid crystal. For the MeV to keV range, instead, I will discuss the role of collective excitations, condensed matter phenomena and their relation to the Goldstone's theorem. As a case study, I will present the idea of employing anti-ferromagnets to look for sub-MeV dark matter with spin-dependent interactions and, possibly, axions with meV masses.