Baxter D, Bloch I M, Bodnia E, Chen X, Conrad J, Di Gangi P, Dobson J E Y, Durnford D, Haselschwardt S J, Kaboth A, Lang R F, Lin Q, Lippincott W H, Liu J, Manalaysay A, McCabe C, Morå K D, Naim D, Neilson R, Olcina I, Piro M-C, Selvi M, von Krosigk B, Westerdale S, Yang Y, Zhou N
Kavli Institute for Cosmological Physics and Enrico Fermi Institute, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637 USA.
School of Physics and Astronomy, Tel-Aviv University, 69978 Tel-Aviv, Israel.
Eur Phys J C Part Fields. 2021;81(10):907. doi: 10.1140/epjc/s10052-021-09655-y. Epub 2021 Oct 15.
The field of dark matter detection is a highly visible and highly competitive one. In this paper, we propose recommendations for presenting dark matter direct detection results particularly suited for weak-scale dark matter searches, although we believe the spirit of the recommendations can apply more broadly to searches for other dark matter candidates, such as very light dark matter or axions. To translate experimental data into a final published result, direct detection collaborations must make a series of choices in their analysis, ranging from how to model astrophysical parameters to how to make statistical inferences based on observed data. While many collaborations follow a standard set of recommendations in some areas, for example the expected flux of dark matter particles (to a large degree based on a paper from Lewin and Smith in 1995), in other areas, particularly in statistical inference, they have taken different approaches, often from result to result by the same collaboration. We set out a number of recommendations on how to apply the now commonly used Profile Likelihood Ratio method to direct detection data. In addition, updated recommendations for the Standard Halo Model astrophysical parameters and relevant neutrino fluxes are provided. The authors of this note include members of the DAMIC, DarkSide, DARWIN, DEAP, LZ, NEWS-G, PandaX, PICO, SBC, SENSEI, SuperCDMS, and XENON collaborations, and these collaborations provided input to the recommendations laid out here. Wide-spread adoption of these recommendations will make it easier to compare and combine future dark matter results.
暗物质探测领域备受关注且竞争激烈。在本文中，我们针对呈现暗物质直接探测结果提出建议，这些建议特别适用于弱标度暗物质搜索，不过我们认为这些建议的精神更广泛地适用于搜索其他暗物质候选者，比如极轻暗物质或轴子。为了将实验数据转化为最终发表的结果，直接探测合作团队在分析过程中必须做出一系列选择，从如何对天体物理参数进行建模到如何基于观测数据进行统计推断。虽然许多合作团队在某些领域遵循一套标准建议，例如暗物质粒子的预期通量（很大程度上基于1995年Lewin和Smith的一篇论文），但在其他领域，特别是在统计推断方面，他们采取了不同的方法，同一合作团队的结果之间常常存在差异。我们就如何将目前常用的轮廓似然比方法应用于直接探测数据提出了一些建议。此外，还提供了标准晕模型天体物理参数和相关中微子通量的更新建议。本说明的作者包括DAMIC、DarkSide、DARWIN、DEAP、LZ、NEWS - G、PandaX、PICO、SBC、SENSEI、SuperCDMS和XENON合作团队的成员，这些合作团队为本处列出的建议提供了意见。广泛采用这些建议将使未来暗物质结果的比较和合并更加容易。
