A comparison between direct and indirect dark matter search

Abstract

We carry out a comparison between different kinds of experiments for the detection of neutralino dark matter. In particular, we compare the theoretical predictions for the direct detection of these particles, through their elastic scattering on target nuclei through nuclear recoils, with those for their indirect detection through the gamma rays produced by their annihilation in the galactic center. For the comparison we pay special attention to points which will be testable by very sensitive experiments, such as e.g. EDELWEISS II and GENIUS for direct detection, and GLAST for indirect detection. We perform the analysis in the framework of a general SUGRA theory, allowing the presence of non-universal soft scalar and gaugino masses in the parameter space. As a conclusion, we find that indirect detection experiments will be able to test larger regions of the parameter space than direct detection ones.