Ab Initio Structure Factors for Spin-Dependent Dark Matter Direct Detection

• Published in: Physical review letters 2022-02, Vol.128 (7), p.072502-072502, Article 072502
• Main Authors: Hu, B S, Padua-Argüelles, J, Leutheusser, S, Miyagi, T, Stroberg, S R, Holt, J D
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: electroweak interactions in nuclear physics; nuclear many-body theory; NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS; nuclear tests of fundamental interactions; Physics
• ISSN: 0031-9007; 1079-7114
• DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.128.072502

We present converged ab initio calculations of structure factors for elastic spin-dependent WIMP scattering off all nuclei used in dark matter direct-detection searches: ^{19}F, ^{23}Na, ^{27}Al, ^{29}Si, ^{73}Ge, ^{127}I, and ^{129,131}Xe. From a set of established two- and three-nucleon interactions derived within chiral effective field theory, we construct consistent WIMP-nucleon currents at the one-body level, including effects from axial-vector two-body currents. We then apply the in-medium similarity renormalization group to construct effective valence-space Hamiltonians and consistently transformed operators of nuclear responses. Combining the recent advances of natural orbitals with three-nucleon forces expressed in large spaces, we obtain basis-space converged structure factors even in heavy nuclei. Generally results are consistent with previous calculations but large uncertainties in ^{127}I highlight the need for further study.