Current Searching and Future Prospects for Dark Matter: WIMPS,

Axions and Sub-GeV

Zhiyi Zhou

Ardingly College, Haywards Heath, U.K.

Keywords: Dark Matter, WIMPs, Axions, Sub-GeV Particles, Direct Detection, Neutrino Floor.

Abstract: Dark matter remains a deeply unresolved and intriguing issue in contemporary physics era, containing

approximately 25.9% energy density of the entire universe. While its gravitational effects are evident in

galactic rotation curves and cosmic microwave background measurements, its composition and interactions

beyond gravity are still unknown. This study summarizes the present theoretical landscape of dark matter and

closely examines its leading candidate particles for example like Weakly Interacting Massive Particles

(WIMPs), axions as well as sub-GeV particles. This research discusses the theoretical motivations, detection

methods, recent experimental results, and future prospects for each candidate. The paper also addresses the

challenges faced in dark matter detection, including background noise and energy thresholds, as well as

explores upcoming experiments that aim to overcome these hurdles. According to the analysis, this study aims

to provide insights into the ongoing efforts and future directions in the quest to unravel the fantastic truth of

dark matter.

1 INTRODUCTION

Dark matter is believed to constitute approximately

25.9% to the universe’s total energy matter content,

vastly outweighing the ordinary baryonic matter,

which accounts for a mere 4.9% (Ade, et al., 2016).

Despite its dominant role in the universes mass-

energy budget, dark matter has eluded direct

detection due to its lack of electromagnetic

interaction, rendering it invisible to conventional

observational techniques.

The concept of dark matter was first induced by

Swiss astronomer Fritz Zwicky during the early

1930s during his analysis of galaxy velocity

dispersions, he found out this during his observation

of the velocity dispersion of galaxy in the Coma

Cluster (Zwicky, 1933). His measurements implied

the existence of a significant amount of unseen mass.

This notion was further reinforced in the 1970s by

Vera Rubin’s observations on galactic rotation curves,

which revealed that the outer regions of spiral

galaxies rotate at nearly constant speeds contradicting

predictions made from visible matter alone (Rubin, et

al., 1978).

https://orcid.org/0009-0002-1096-0681

In recent decades, dark matter has evolved into

one of the most pressing unsolved problems in both

astrophysics and particle physics and questioned

numerous experts in related fields. Various

theoretical models and experimental efforts have

been developed to uncover its true nature. This paper

presents a comprehensive review of the modern

understanding of dark matter, including those leading

candidates, detection techniques, experimental

findings, and future prospects.

2 DESCRIPTIONS AND

PROPERTIES OF DARK

MATTER

Generally, dark matter is described as a non-luminous,

non-baryonic form of matter which can interacts

primarily under gravity and possibly via weak-scale

forces, but not through electromagnetic or strong

nuclear forces (Bertone & Hooper, 2018). Its

gravitational effects are evident in galactic rotation

curves, gravitational lensing, and cosmic microwave

Zhou, Z.

Current Searching and Future Prospects for Dark Matter: WIMPS, Axions and Sub-GeV.

DOI: 10.5220/0013825400004708

Paper published under CC license (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)

In Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Innovations in Applied Mathematics, Physics, and Astronomy (IAMPA 2025), pages 337-341

ISBN: 978-989-758-774-0

337

background (CMB) anisotropies, yet it has not been

directly observed through electromagnetic means.

The Lambda Cold Dark Matter model outlines

those essential properties that dark matter must

exhibit:

• Cold: During the time of structure formation

it must be Non-relativistic which allowing for

the clumping of matter into galaxies and

clusters.

• Collisionless: Not subject to self-interactions

that would disrupt large-scale structure

formation.

• Stable or Long-Lived: Persisting since the

early universe to the present day.

Several theoretical candidates have been proposed

based on these constraints. The three most studied

types including WIMPs (Weakly Interacting Massive

Particles), axions, and primordial black holes. Each

possesses distinct theoretical motivations and implies

different detection strategies (Abbott, et al., 2016;

Nilles, 1984).

3 WIMPS

WIMPs (Weakly Interacting Massive Particles) have

long dominated as primary candidates in dark matter

research, due to their natural emergence in

supersymmetric extensions of the Standard Model

and their thermal production in the early universe.

WIMPs are hypothesized to have masses between a

few GeV and several TeV, interacting via weak-scale

cross sections (10

-4

to 10

-41

cm) (Roszkowski, 2004).

This phenomenon is often termed the WIMP

miracle. WIMPs thermally produced in the early

universe would, through freeze-out, yield a relic

abundance consistent with current observations of

dark matter density. The aim of direct detection

experiments is to measure nuclear recoils triggered by

interaction with WIMPs which resulting from WIMP-

nucleus elastic scattering. The differential recoil rate

is typically given by:







∝exp (−































) (1)

where E

is nuclear recoil energy, m

is WIMP mass,

and mN: target nucleus mass, E

is a characteristic

energy scale dependent on the local WIMP velocity

distribution.

Several experiments have set stringent limits on

WIMP-nucleon interactions (seen a typical facilitiy

shown in Fig. 1 (Collaboration XENON, et al.,

2018)), i.e., Liquid Xenon Time Projection Chambers

(TPCs): Experiments like XENON1T (Collaboration

XENON, et al., 2018), LUX (Akerib, et al., 2017),

and PandaX-II (Cui, et al., 2017) use dual-phase

xenon detectors that detect both scintillation (S1) and

ionization (S2) signals; cryogenic detectors:

SuperCDMS (Spooner, 2018) and CRESST-III

(Abdelhameed, et al., 2019) use phonon and

ionization measurements at millikelvin temperatures;

bubble chambers: PICO-60 utilizes superheated

liquids to detect WIMPinduced nucleation events

(Amole, 2019). XENON1T currently sets the

strongest constraints on spin-independent WIMP-

nucleon cross sections, excluding values above 4.1 ×

10−

cm for WIMPs of 30 GeV/c mass.

Figure 1: A typical facility for WIMPs detection

(Collaboration XENON, et al., 2018).

4 AXIONS AND AXION-LIKE

PARTICLES (ALPS)

Axions were initially introduced as a theoretical

solution to the strong CP problem in quantum

chromodynamics (QCD) through PecceiQuinn

mechanism. As pseudo-Nambu-Goldstone bosons,

axions are very light (eV to meV scale) and weakly

coupled to standard particles.

In cosmology, axions produced through the

misalignment mechanism can form a nonthermal cold

dark matter component. Their mass and coupling are

related via modelspecific parameters, often expressed

in terms of the axion decay constant fa.

Because axions couple weakly to photons,

Detection methods typically exploit the axion’s

IAMPA 2025 - The International Conference on Innovations in Applied Mathematics, Physics, and Astronomy

338

ability to convert into photons under strong magnetic

fields. The ADMX experiment [uses a microwave

cavity inside a mag-netic field to detect axion-photon

conversions (Ringwald, 2012). CAST looks for solar

axions converting to X-rays. SLight-Shining-

Through-Walls (LSW) is a facility that laboratory

searches for regenerated photons behind a barrier.

ADMX currently constrains QCD axions in the mass

range of 2.663.31 eV. Future projects aim to explore

a broader mass range using improved resonant

cavities and quantum amplifiers.

5 SUB-GEV DARK MATTER

Recent advancements in theory have proposed the

existence of dark matter particles with masses under

1 GeV , especially in hidden sector or dark photon

models (Battaglieri, et al., 2017). Such particles often

go undetected in traditional WIMP searches due to

their minimal recoil signatures.

To probe such light particles, detectors must

achieve extremely low energy thresholds:

• Semiconductor Detectors: SENSEI and

SuperCDMS employ CCDs capable

• of detecting single-electron events from dark

matter-electron scattering (Crisier, et al.,

2018; Agnese, et al., 2017).

• Cryogenic Calorimeters: The CRESST-III

experiment has achieved thresholds as low as

30 eV using CaWO crystals (Abdelhameed,

et al., 2019).

• Ionization-only Noble Detectors: Xenon-

based detectors like XENON10 and

XENON1T have been repurposed to look for

ionization-only signals (Essig, et al., 2012).

SENSEI currently leads the field in constraining

dark matter-electron interactions for certain masses

under 5 MeV/c.

6 CHALLENGES, COMPARISON,

AND FUTURE PROSPECTS

Both WIMPs, axions, and sub-GeV particles each

present unique challenges in terms of detection.

Background radiation from natural and cosmic

sources poses significant limitations on experimental

sensitivity, especially as experiments reach

unprecedented sensitivity. Coherent neutrino-nucleus

scattering (CNNS) is anticipated to emerge as a major

source of irreducible back ground noise (seen from

Fig. 2) (Billard, et al., 2014).

In addition, many sub-GeV dark matter

candidates deposit less than 1 keV of energy upon

interaction. Reaching the necessary sub-keV or even

sub-100 eV thresholds requires breakthroughs in

sensor technology and noise reduction. To improve

sensitivity, experiments must scale to multiton

masses while maintaining ultra-low background

conditions. This is especially true for WIMP searches,

where signal rates are extremely low.

Figure 2: The cross section as a function of WIMPs mass.

Table 1: Comparison of Dark Matter Candidates.

Candidate Mass

Ran

Main

Interaction

Leading

eriments

WIMPs GeVTeV Weak

nuclea

XENON1T,

LUX, PandaX

Axions eVmeV Axion-

photon

coupling

ADMX,

CAST

Sub-GeV

Particles

MeVGeV Electron

recoils

SENSEI,

SuperCDMS,

CRESST

Table 1 presents a comparative overview of three

major dark matter candidates including the most

common one WIMPs (Weakly Interacting Massive

Particles), axions, and sub-GeV particles —based on

their characteristic mass ranges, primary interaction

mechanisms, and leading experimental detection

efforts. WIMPs, occupying the GeV to TeV mass

scale, are primarily expected to interact via weak

nuclear forces and have been extensively targeted by

experiments such as XENON1T, LUX, and PandaX.

Axions, which are ultra-light particles in the eV to

meV mass range, interact through axion-photon

coupling and are being probed by experiments like

ADMX and CAST. Meanwhile, sub-GeV particles,

ranging from MeV to GeV, are hypothesized to

interact through electron recoils and are investigated

using highly sensitive cryogenic and semiconductor

detectors in experiments, e.g., SENSEI, SuperCDMS,

and CRESST. This classification highlights the

Current Searching and Future Prospects for Dark Matter: WIMPS, Axions and Sub-GeV

339

diverse theoretical landscape of dark matter

candidates and illustrates how different detection

strategies are tailored to their distinct physical

properties.

In the coming years, a series of advanced and

large scale experiments are expected to push the

boundaries of dark matter detection to significantly

advance the search for dark matter by exploring

previously inaccessible regions of parameter space.

The new generation time projection chambers

( TPCs) such as XENONnT , LZ , and the future

DARWIN detectors are being design to probe spin-

independent WIMP-nucleon cross section to neutrino

floor, where significant solar and atmospheric

neutrinos built up backgrounds . This advancement

method cellenge the traditional detection method

(Aprile, et al., 2016; Akerib, et al., 2020; Aalbers, et

al., 2016). Such detectors reflect the culmination of

years of technological advancement in background

reduction, target mass scaling, and signal

discrimination. In parallel, the CYGNUS project

proposes a novel approach using a gaseous detector

array capable of directional detection, allowing it to

measure the incoming direction of WIMPs. This

directional sensitivity would provide a powerful tool

for distinguishing potential dark matter signals from

terrestrial and cosmogenic backgrounds, leveraging

the Earth’s motion through the galactic halo (Agnese,

et al., 2018). Furthermore, rapid progress in quantum

sensing technologies is opening new avenues for

detecting ultra-light candidates mass under the eV

interval. Techniques such as superconducting qubits,

quantum calorimeters, and optomechanical devices

may allow for the detection of tiny energy depositions

previously thought to be undetectable. Together,

these efforts promise a transformative leap in dark

matter discovery potential.

7 CONCLUSIONS

Understanding the particle properties of dark matte

continues to be a central challenge in modern physics.

While extensive experimental campaigns have ruled

out significant area of parameter space for WIMPs,

the field is far from exhausted. Axions and sub-GeV

particles provide theoretically motivated and

experimentally accessible alternatives. The

development of increasingly sensitive detection

technologies has brought the field to a critical

juncture. upcoming projects aim to explore

interactions below the neutrino floor, employ

directional sensitivity, and leverage quantum

technologies. Regardless of the outcomediscovery or

continued null resultsthe data gathered will be

invaluable for constraining models and guiding

theoretical developments. Delving the nature of dark

matter would not just solve a central puzzle in

cosmology but could also open a telescope to physics

beyond the Standard Model, fundamentally altering

the understanding of the enormou the universe.

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