A new methodology for direct detection of heavy dark matter at intense particle beam facilities

Abstract

We propose new concepts for experiments in which intense high energy photon or muon beams are employed parasitically to detect scattering by cosmic heavy weakly interacting dark matter (DM) particles. We show that the scattering cross-sections are sizeable enough to potentially observe beam scattering on heavy dark matter particles at high beam intensities for typically inferred near-Earth DM densities of $\rho_\chi\sim0.3~GeV/cm^3$. The predicted effect is particularly large in the case of a proposed muon collider Higgs factory, especially in the heavy (and poorly constrained) DM scenarios of WIMPZilla's. Current photon facilities such as at Jefferson Laboratory are predicted to require intensity and energy upgrades to reach detectable rates.