Related papers: Exoplanets as Sub-GeV Dark Matter Detectors
Sterile neutrinos with masses in the keV range are well-motivated extensions to the Standard Model that could explain the observed neutrino masses while also making up the dark matter (DM) of the Universe. If sterile neutrinos are DM then…
Gravitational potential fluctuations driven by bursty star formation can kinematically 'heat up' dark matter at the centres of dwarf galaxies. A key prediction of such models is that, at a fixed dark matter halo mass, dwarfs with a higher…
Astrophysical emission lines arising from particle decays can offer unique insights into the nature of dark matter (DM). Using dedicated simulations with background and foreground modeling, we comprehensively demonstrate that the recently…
An old neutron star (NS) may capture halo dark matter (DM) and get heated up by the deposited kinetic energy, thus behaving like a thermal DM detector with sensitivity to a wide range of DM masses and a variety of DM-quark interactions.…
Sub-GeV Dark Matter particles upscattered by cosmic rays gain enough kinetic energy to pass the thresholds of large volume detectors on Earth. We then use public Super-Kamiokande and MiniBooNE data to derive a novel limit on the scattering…
Dark matter (DM) can be captured in celestial bodies after scattering and losing sufficient energy to become gravitationally bound. We derive a general framework that describes the current DM distribution inside celestial objects, which…
We are at the dawn of a data-driven era in astrophysics and cosmology. A large number of ongoing and forthcoming experiments combined with an increasingly open approach to data availability offer great potential in unlocking some of the…
The lack of new physics at the LHC so far weakens the argument for TeV scale thermal dark matter. On the other hand, heavier, non-thermal dark matter is generally difficult to test experimentally. Here we consider the interesting and…
Several astrophysical and cosmological observations suggest the existence of dark matter (DM) through its gravitational effects, yet its nature remains elusive. Despite the lack of DM signals from direct detection experiments, efforts…
Dark matter may be discovered through its capture in stars and subsequent annihilation. It is usually assumed that dark matter is captured after a single scattering event in the star, however this assumption breaks down for heavy dark…
The physical characterization of exoplanets will require to take spectra at several orbital positions. For that purpose, a direct imaging capability is necessary. Direct imaging requires an efficient stellar suppression mechanism,…
This report summarises progress made in estimating the local density of dark matter ($\rho_{\mathrm{DM,\odot}}$), a quantity that is especially important for dark matter direct detection experiments. We outline and compare the most common…
We propose a new strategy to directly detect light particle dark matter that has long-ranged interactions with ordinary matter. The approach involves distorting the local flow of dark matter with time-varying fields and measuring these…
Dark matter comprises the bulk of the matter in the universe but its particle nature and cosmological origin remain mysterious. Knowledge of the dark matter density distribution in the Milky Way Galaxy is crucial to both our understanding…
A wide variety of celestial bodies have been considered as dark matter detectors. Which stands the best chance of delivering the discovery of dark matter? Which is the most powerful dark matter detector? We investigate a range of objects,…
The existence of millicharged dark matter (mDM) can leave a measurable imprint on 21-cm cosmology through mDM-baryon scattering. However, the minimal scenario is severely constrained by existing cosmological bounds on both the fraction of…
MeV dark matter (DM) particles annihilating or decaying to electron-positron pairs cannot, in principle, be observed via local cosmic-ray (CR) measurements because of the shielding solar magnetic field. In this letter, we take advantage of…
Exoplanets are now being discovered in profusion. However, to understand their character requires spectral models and data. These elements of remote sensing can yield temperatures, compositions, and even weather patterns, but only if…
We point out that power measurements of single quasiparticle devices open a new avenue to detect dark matter (DM). The threshold of these devices is set by the Cooper pair binding energy, and is therefore so low that they can detect DM as…
This article reviews recent progress in observational determination of the properties of dark matter on small astrophysical scales, and progress towards the European Extremely Large Telescope. Current results suggest some surprises: the…