Speaker
Description
We present a calculation from first-principles of the dark matter scattering rates in a superfluid $^3$He target, for both spin-independent and spin-dependent dark matter interactions. This study develops a complementary approach to studying the dark matter signal, accounting for the many-body physics of the target using the dynamic structure function. We find this both validates previous determinations of the QUEST-DMC experiment’s current reach, and provides the methods required to produce accurate signals for near-future experiments. Accounting for the many-body physics of $^3$He and its quantum statistics changes the kinematics of the scattering. The correction to the signal projects an improved reach to dark matter in the MeV mass region for future, lower-temperature, experiments.