Direct dark matter detection: the next decade

Abstract

Direct dark matter searches are promising techniques to identify the nature of dark matter particles. I describe the future of this field of research, focussing on the question of what can be achieved in the next decade. I will present the main techniques and R&D projects that will allow to build so-called ultimate WIMP detectors, capable of probing spin-independent interactions down to the unimaginably low cross section of 1e-48 cm2, before the irreducible neutrino background takes over. If a discovery is within the reach of a near-future dark matter experiment, these detectors will be able to constrain WIMP properties such as its mass, scattering cross section and possibly spin. With input from the LHC and from indirect searches, direct detection experiments will hopefully allow to determine the local density and to constrain the local phase-space structure of our dark matter halo.