Method-Driven Experiments and the Search for Dark Matter

Since the discovery of dark matter in the 1980s, multiple experiments have been set up to detect dark matter particles through some other mode than gravity. Particle physicists provide detailed justifications as to why their experiments should be able to detect dark matter. I show that these justifications take on a structure different from what is often the case in experimental practice, and I argue that this is because of the limited description of dark matter. By illuminating this 'method-driven logic', I shed new light on questions surrounding measurement robustness and methodological pluralism in the context of dark matter research.

Automated summary

Particle physicists have set up experiments to detect dark matter particles using a different logic structure due to the limited description of dark matter. By exploring this "method-driven logic," new insights are provided on measurement robustness and methodological pluralism in the context of dark matter research.