Eur. Phys. J. C (2012) 72: 2090
https://doi.org/10.1140/epjc/s10052-012-2090-2

Letter

A minimal dark matter interpretation for the CRESST-II signal

Department of Physics and Engineering Physics, University of Saskatchewan, 116 Science Place, Saskatoon, SK S7N 5E2, Canada

^* e-mail: rainer.dick@usask.ca

Received: 23 May 2012
Published online: 25 July 2012

Abstract

We report on the possible interpretation of the two proposed dark matter mass values m _χ =11.6 GeV and m _χ =25.3 GeV from CRESST-II within the framework of the Higgs portal minimal dark matter model. We find that the higher mass value yields a suitable fit with a dark matter-Higgs coupling η/2=0.157 and a recoil cross section which is compatible with contemporary estimates of the effective Higgs–nucleon coupling. On the other hand, the lower mass solution would require a large strangeness component in the nucleon to explain the corresponding nucleon recoil cross section reported by CRESST-II.