Theoretical direct WIMP detection rates for inelastic scattering to excited states

The recent WMAP and Planck data have confirmed that exotic dark matter together with the vacuum energy (cosmological constant) dominate in the flat Universe. Many extensions of the standard model provide dark matter candidates, in particular Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs). Thus the direct dark matter detection is central to particle physics and cosmology. Most of the research on this issue has hitherto focused on the detection of the recoiling nucleus. In this paper we study transitions to the excited states, possible in some nuclei, which have sufficiently low lying excited states. Good examples are the first excited states of 127I and 129Xe. We find appreciable branching ratios for the inelastic scattering mediated by the spin cross sections. So, in principle, the extra signature of the gamma ray following the de-excitation of these states can, in principle, be exploited experimentally.