Related papers: Revisiting CMB constraints on dark matter annihila…
Although empirical evidence indicates that that the universe's gas had become ionized by redshift z ~ 6, the mechanism by which this transition occurred remains unclear. In this article, we explore the possibility that dark matter…
The most compelling and popular models for dark matter predict that it should congregate and annihilate in stellar cores. Stars where annihilation contributes substantially to the total energy budget look very different to those with which…
We derive constraints on the injection of free-streaming dark radiation after big bang nucleosynthesis (BBN) by considering the decay of a massive hidden sector particle into dark radiation. Such a scenario has the potential to alleviate…
There is a large and growing interest in observations of small-scale structure in dark matter. We propose a new way to probe dark matter structures in the $\sim 10 - 10^8 \, M_\odot$ range. This allows us to constrain the primordial power…
The presence of light thermally coupled dark matter affects early expansion history and production of light elements during the Big Bang Nucleosynthesis. Specifically, dark matter that annihilates into Standard Model particles can modify…
We examine the possible indirect signatures of dark matter annihilation processes with a non-standard scaling with the dark matter density, and in particular the case where more than two dark matter particles participate in the annihilation…
The metallicity evolution and ionization history of the universe must leave its imprint on the Cosmic Microwave Background through resonant scattering of CMB photons by atoms, ions and molecules. These transitions partially erase original…
We investigate the radiative decay of the cosmic neutrino background, and its impact on the spectrum of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) that is known to be a nearly perfect black body. We derive exact formulae for the decay of a…
The epoch of the end of reionization and the Thomson optical depth to the cosmic microwave background depend on the power spectrum amplitude on small scales and on the ionizing photon emissivity per unit mass in collapsed halos. In this…
If dark matter decays or annihilates into electrons and positrons, it can affect radiation and cosmic-ray backgrounds. We review a novel, more general analysis of constraints on decaying dark matter models, by introducing the response…
An intriguing possibility for the dark sector of our universe is that the dark matter particle could interact with a dark radiation component. If the non-gravitational interactions of the dark matter and dark radiation species with Standard…
We study the effect of a prolonged epoch of reionization on the angular power spectrum of the Cosmic Microwave Background. Typically reionization studies assume a sudden phase transition, with the intergalactic gas moving from a fully…
We consider for the first time the ability of present-day cosmic microwave background (CMB) anisotropies data to determine the primordial helium mass fraction, Y_p. We find that CMB data alone gives the confidence interval 0.160 < Y_p <…
We investigate the constraints on the reionization history of the Universe from a joint analysis of the cosmic microwave background and neutral hydrogen fraction data. The $\tanh$ parametrization and principal component analysis methods are…
We update our exploration of the MSSM parameter space at the weak scale where new accelerator and cosmological constraints are respected. The dependence of WIMP-nucleon cross sections on parameters of the MSSM, uncertainties of the nucleon…
We show that the ionization of dense molecular clouds can be used to set strong constraints on dark matter models producing UV/X-ray photons in their annihilation or decay. We place robust and competitive constraints on various dark matter…
A novel particle has been and still is an intriguing option to explain the strong evidence for dark matter in our universe. To quantitatively predict the dark matter energy density, two main ingredients are needed: interaction rates and an…
It is well known that dark matter density measurements, indirect and direct detection experiments, importantly complement the LHC in setting strong constraints on new physics scenarios. Yet, dark matter searches are subject to limitations…
Annihilation of dark matter particles in cosmological halos (including a halo of the Milky Way) contributes to the diffuse gamma-ray background (DGRB). As this contribution will appear anisotropic in the sky, one can use the angular power…
Dark matter interactions with electrons or protons during the early Universe leave imprints on the cosmic microwave background and the matter power spectrum, and can be probed through cosmological and astrophysical observations. These…