Related papers: Empirical Determination of Dark Matter Velocities …
The local velocity distribution of dark matter plays an integral role in interpreting the results from direct detection experiments. We previously showed that metal-poor halo stars serve as excellent tracers of the virialized dark matter…
The predicted abundance and properties of the low-mass substructures embedded inside larger dark matter haloes differ sharply among alternative dark matter models. Too small to host galaxies themselves, these subhaloes may still be detected…
The dark matter velocity distribution in the Solar neighbourhood is an important astrophysical input which enters in the predicted event rate of dark matter direct detection experiments. It has been recently suggested that the local dark…
The orbital motions of halo stars in the Milky Way reflect the orbital motions of the progenitor systems in which they formed, making it possible to trace the mass-assembly history of the Galaxy. Direct measurement of three-dimensional…
We derive new constraints on the mass of the Milky Way's dark matter halo, based on a set of halo stars from SDSS as kinematic tracers. Our sample comprises 2401 rigorously selected Blue Horizontal-Branch (BHB) halo stars drawn from SDSS…
Various laboratory-based experiments are underway attempting to detect dark matter directly. The event rates and detailed signals expected in these experiments depend on the dark matter phase space distribution on sub-milliparsec scales.…
We obtain a new determination of the metallicity distribution function (MDF) of stars within $\sim5$-$10$ kpc of the Sun, based on recently improved co-adds of $ugriz$ photometry for Stripe 82 from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. Our new…
The sensitivity of direct detection experiments depends on the phase-space distribution of dark matter near the Sun, which can be modeled theoretically using cosmological hydrodynamical simulations of Milky Way-like galaxies. However,…
We explore the properties of Milky Way subhalos in self-interacting dark matter models for moderate cross sections of 1 to 5 cm$^2$g$^{-1}$ using high-resolution zoom-in N-body simulations. We include the gravitational potential of a…
We present robust constraints from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) on the shape and distribution of the dark matter halo within the Milky Way (MW). Using the number density distribution and kinematics of SDSS halo stars, we probe the…
The first and second moments of stellar velocities encode important information about the formation history of the Galactic halo. However, due to the lack of tangential motion and inaccurate distances of the halo stars, the velocity moments…
As the Milky Way and its satellite system become more entrenched in near field cosmology efforts, the need for an accurate mass estimate of the Milky Way's dark matter halo is increasingly critical. With the second and early third data…
We determine the average metallicities of the elements of cold halo substructure (ECHOS) that we previously identified in the inner halo of the Milky Way within 17.5 kpc of the Sun. As a population, we find that stars kinematically…
Small-scale dark matter structure within the Milky Way is expected to affect pulsar timing. The change in gravitational potential induced by a dark matter halo passing near the line of sight to a pulsar would produce a varying delay in the…
We propose a novel method utilizing stellar kinematic data to detect low-mass substructure in the Milky Way's dark matter halo. By probing characteristic wakes that a passing dark matter subhalo leaves in the phase space distribution of…
We show that subhalos falling into the Milky Way create a flow of tidally-stripped debris particles near the galactic center with characteristic velocity behavior. In the Via Lactea-II N-body simulation, this unvirialized component…
The distribution of shapes of galaxies' dark halos provides a basic test for models of galaxy formation. To-date, few dark halo shapes have been measured, and the results of different methods appear contradictory. Here, we add to the sample…
The dark matter flux in a direct detection experiment depends on its local speed distribution. This distribution has been inferred from simulations of Milky Way-like galaxies, but such models serve only as proxies given that no simulation…
Our current understanding of how dark matter (DM) is distributed within the Milky Way halo, particularly in the solar neighborhood, is based on either careful studies of the local stellar orbits, model assumptions on the global shape of the…
We identify ten -- seven for the first time -- elements of cold halo substructure (ECHOS) in the volume within 17.5 kpc of the Sun in the inner halo of the Milky Way. Our result is based on the observed spatial and radial velocity…