Simulated Milky Way analogues: implications for dark matter direct
  searches
  We study the implications of galaxy formation on dark matter direct detection
using high resolution hydrodynamic simulations of Milky Way-like galaxies
simulated within the EAGLE and APOSTLE projects. We identify Milky Way
analogues that satisfy observational constraints on the Milky Way rotation
curve and total stellar mass. We then extract the dark matter density and
velocity distribution in the Solar neighbourhood for this set of Milky Way
analogues, and use them to analyse the results of current direct detection
experiments. For most Milky Way analogues, the event rates in direct detection
experiments obtained from the best fit Maxwellian distribution (with peak speed
of 223 - 289 km/s) are similar to those obtained directly from the simulations.
As a consequence, the allowed regions and exclusion limits set by direct
detection experiments in the dark matter mass and spin-independent cross
section plane shift by a few GeV compared to the Standard Halo Model, at low
dark matter masses. For each dark matter mass, the halo-to-halo variation of
the local dark matter density results in an overall shift of the allowed
regions and exclusion limits for the cross section. However, the compatibility
of the possible hints for a dark matter signal from DAMA and CDMS-Si and null
results from LUX and SuperCDMS is not improved.
