Erlangen 2026 – wissenschaftliches Programm

Bereiche | Tage | Auswahl | Suche | Aktualisierungen | Downloads | Hilfe

T: Fachverband Teilchenphysik

T 21: Invited Overview Talks II

T 21.1: Invited Overview Talk

Dienstag, 17. März 2026, 11:00–11:30, AudiMax

Three Decades of Dark Matter Annual Modulation Searches: Overview and Current Status — •Karoline Schaeffner — Max-Planck-Institut für Physik, München, Germany — Technische Universität München, München, Germany

A powerful method to discriminate potential dark matter signals from detector backgrounds is to search for an annual modulation in the event rate, induced by the seasonal variation of the Earth's velocity with respect to the Sun and, consequently, to the galactic dark matter halo.

The DAMA/LIBRA experiment pioneered this approach using sodium iodide (NaI(Tl)) detectors and has reported the observation of an annual modulation signal with very high statistical significance, exhibiting a period and phase consistent with expectations for dark matter interactions. The DAMA/LIBRA results remain in strong tension with the null results reported by most other direct dark matter detection experiments. Despite extensive experimental and theoretical efforts, a model-independent verification capable of resolving this long-standing discrepancy is still lacking.

In this talk, I will present an overview of the worldwide experimental program based on NaI detectors, summarize the current status of these experiments, discuss the key experimental challenges, and outline the open questions that continue to keep this enduring puzzle unresolved.

Keywords: Dark Matter; Annual Modulation; Direct Dark Matter Detection; Cryogenic Detectors; Transition Edge Sensors