Probing light WIMPs with directional detection experiments

Abstract: The CoGeNT and CRESST WIMP direct detection experiments have recently observed excesses of nuclear recoil events, while the DAMA/LIBRA experiment has a long standing annual modulation signal. It has been suggested that these excesses may be due to light mass, m_chi ~ 5-10 GeV, WIMPs. The Earth's motion with respect to the Galactic rest frame leads to a directional dependence in the WIMP scattering rate, providing a powerful signal of the Galactic origin of any recoil excess. We investigate whether direct detection experiments with directional sensitivity have the potential to observe this anisotropic scattering rate with the elastically scattering light WIMPs proposed to explain the observed excesses. We find that the number of recoils required to detect an anisotropic signal from light WIMPs at 5 sigma significance varies from 7 to more than 190 over the set of target nuclei and energy thresholds expected for directional detectors. Smaller numbers arise from configurations where the detector is only sensitive to recoils from the highest speed, and hence most anisotropic, WIMPs. However, the event rate above threshold is very small in these cases, leading to the need for large experimental exposures to accumulate even a small number of events. To account for this sensitivity to the tail of the WIMP velocity distribution, whose shape is not well known, we consider two exemplar halo models spanning the range of possibilities. We also note that for an accurate calculation the Earth's orbital speed must be averaged over. We find that the exposures required to detect 10 GeV WIMPs at a WIMP-proton cross-section of 10^-4 pb are of order 10^3 kg day for a 20 keV energy threshold, within reach of planned directional detectors. Lower WIMP masses require higher exposures and/or lower energy thresholds for detection.