Related papers: Exponentially Light Dark Matter from Coannihilatio…
Thermal freeze-out is a compelling framework for naturally generating the dark matter abundance. We systematically study a broad range of dark matter and mediator particle combinations that can viably realize thermal freeze-out, focusing on…
We compute the bounds on the dark matter (DM) annihilation cross section using the most recent Cosmic Microwave Background measurements from WMAP9, SPT'11 and ACT'10. We consider DM with mass in the MeV-TeV range annihilating 100% into…
Producing an acceptable thermal relic abundance of dark matter with masses $\gg 10^2$ TeV is a challenge. We propose a novel mechanism where GeV-scale states establish a tiny thermal relic abundance for dark matter, which is later promoted…
Dark matter is, arguably, the most widely discussed topic in contemporary particle physics. Written in the language of particle physics and quantum field theory, these notes focus on a set of standard calculations needed to understand…
Dark Matter can form bound states upon the emission of quanta of energy equal to the binding energy. The rate of this process is large for strongly-interacting Dark Matter, and further enhanced by long distance effects. The resulting…
We consider the effect of Light (but Massive) Relics (LiMRs) on the clustering of matter in the early Universe. We account for the fact that LiMRs which are massive enough may cluster on large length scales at early times, and may thus…
Dark matter in the cosmological concordance model is parameterised by a single number, describing the covariantly conserved energy density of a non-relativistic fluid. Here we test this assumption in a model-independent and conservative way…
We consider the possibility that the cosmological dark matter consists of particles very close in mass to new colored particles below the TeV scale. While such a scenario is inherently difficult to directly confirm at colliders, we find…
If dark matter (DM) simply consists in a scalar particle interacting dominantly with the Higgs boson, the ratio of its annihilation cross section ---which is relevant both for the relic abundance and indirect detection--- and its…
We point out that a non-relativistic $\sim 2 $ GeV dark matter (DM) which interacts with visible matter through higher dimensional Rayleigh operators could explain the excess of "electron recoil" events recently observed by the Xenon1T…
Dark matter might be in the form of a dark plasma in the Milky Way halo. Specifically, we consider here a hidden sector consisting of a light `dark electron' and a much heavier `dark proton', each charged under an unbroken $U(1)'$ gauge…
The lack of evidence for low energy supersymmetry at the LHC implies a supersymmetry scale in excess a TeV. While this is consistent (and even helpful) with a Higgs boson mass at $\approx$ 125 GeV, simple supersymmetric models with scalar…
If moduli, or other long-lived heavy states, decay in the early universe in part into light and feebly interacting particles (such as axions), these decay products could account for the additional energy density in radiation that is…
Cannibals are dark matter particles with a scattering process that allows three particles to annihilate to two. This exothermic process keeps the gas of the remaining particles warm long after they become non-relativistic. A cannibalizing…
Current and most upcoming neutrino detectors can only reach a dark matter annihilation cross section to neutrinos larger than the standard freeze-out value, but they open intriguing detection avenues for non-standard dark matter paradigms.…
Model-independent theoretical upper bound on the thermal dark matter (DM) mass can be derived from the maximum inelastic DM cross-section featuring the whole observed DM abundance. We deploy partial-wave unitarity of the scattering matrix…
Dark Matter annihilations after recombination and during the epoch of structure formation deposit energy in the primordial intergalactic medium, producing reionization and heating. We investigate the constraints that are imposed by the…
The annihilation rate of dark matter particles plays a crucial role in dark matter studies, for it determines their relic density and their indirect detection signal. In this paper, we show that this annihilation rate can receive large…
Direct detection of light dark matter (DM), below the GeV scale, through electron recoil can be efficient if DM has a velocity well above the virial value of $v\sim 10^{-3}$. We point out that if there is a long range attractive force…
While the paradigm of a weakly interacting massive particle (WIMP) has guided our search strategies for dark matter in the past decades, their null-results have stimulated growing interest in alternative explanations pointing towards…