# Bringing Light into the Darkness — About Dark Matter Scattering off Light Nuclei

### By Christopher Körber

#### Seminar at TP2, Ruhr-Universität Bochum – July, 2017

Keywords: Dark Matter, Nuclear Forces, Chiral Perturbation Theory, Chiral Uncertainty Estimation

What do we know about Dark Matter and how can we possibly describe it on a fundamental scale? In this talk, I present the scattering of Dark Matter particles off various light nuclei within the framework of chiral effective field theory. I focus on scalar interactions and include one- and two-nucleon scattering processes whose form and strength are dictated by chiral symmetry. The nuclear wave functions are calculated from chiral effective field theory interactions as well. The convergence pattern of the chiral expansion in the nuclear potential and the Dark Matter-nucleus currents is investigated. This allows to provide a systematic uncertainty estimate of the calculations. Results for ${}^2$H, ${}^3$H, and ${}^3$He nuclei, which are theoretically interesting and the latter is a potential target for experiments, are provided.