New Directions in Dark Matter Direct Detection

Abstract

Sub-GeV dark matter is a theoretically motivated but largely unexplored paradigm of dark matter. In this talk, I will discuss recent work on the direct detection of sub-GeV dark matter through dark matter-electron scattering. I will present some motivated models that can be probed with these techniques as well as projections for current and near-term noble liquid, semiconductor, and scintillator experiments. Finally, I will discuss some new techniques that may allow us to more robustly discriminate between dark matter signatures and background.