2 ms·

Worst case, all couplings to the SM might be so small that it's undetectable on earth. A purely gravitational direct detection is probably out of reach for quit

• DiogenesKynikos 7y ago
  That would be pretty disappointing, but as far as I understand it, entirely possible. There are three ways to detect dark matter: 1. scattering in a lab 2. annihilation products observed with a telescope 3. gravitational effects We've seen 3, and we'll probably get a huge amount more detail on the distribution of dark matter through that method as time goes on. That would already be pretty convincing to me. People have been looking for both 1 and 2 for a while, without any conclusive detection. But it's easy to write down theories of dark matter that are extremely difficult to detect with those methods. At some point, we may have to accept that the only way to detect dark matter is method 3, through gravitational effects.
  • davrosthedalek 7y ago
    That's why I think it is so important to do precision tests of the Standard model here on earth. DM might show up as differences between theory and measurement. There are a couple of puzzles like that, g_muon-2, proton radius, ^8Be,... Maybe we get lucky.