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The spectroscopic characterization of terrestrial exoplanets will be made possible for the first time with JWST. One challenge to characterizing such planets is that it is not known a priori whether they possess optically thick atmospheres…
The search for antideuterons in cosmic rays has been proposed as a promising channel for dark matter indirect detection, especially for dark matter particles with a low or intermediate mass. With the current operational phase of the AMS-02…
Determining the composition of an exoplanet atmosphere relies on the presence of detectable spectral features. The strongest spectral features, including DMS, look approximately Gaussian. Here, I perform a suite of Gaussian feature analyses…
The characterization of exoplanetary atmospheres through transit spectra is becoming increasingly feasible, and technology for direct detection remains ongoing. The possibility of detecting spectral features could enable quantitative…
The Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS) is a particle detector designed to detect antimatter. During the 10-day test flight on the space shuttle in June 1998, AMS detected $10^8$ events. Upon analysis, no antimatter was found and the…
Cosmic antideuterons are considered as one of the most promising tools for the indirect detection of dark matter due to their ultra-low astrophysical backgrounds. Currently only upper limits on the antideuteron flux exist, but advancements…
We investigate dark matter (DM) interactions via spectroscopic signatures of energy injection in planetary environments. We develop a general framework to account for how DM energy injection signals depend on the DM spatial distribution,…
Dynamical theories of dark energy predict new degrees of freedom with particular environmental sensitivity to avoid constraints on fifth forces. We show that the similar, yet complementary multi-purpose detector setup of the ATLAS and CMS…
The Standard Model (SM) supplemented by Type II Seesaw and a SM gauge-singlet scalar dark matter (DM) is a very simple framework to incorporate the observed neutrino oscillations and provide a plausible DM candidate. In this framework, the…
Sub-Neptune planets, with sizes and masses between those of Earth and Neptune, dominate the exoplanet population. Sub-Neptunes are expected to be the most diverse family of the exoplanet population, potentially including rocky gas dwarfs,…
As we begin to discover rocky planets in the habitable zone of nearby stars with missions like TESS and CHEOPS, we will need quick advancements on instrumentation and observational techniques that will enable us to answer key science…
One of the primary open questions of astrobiology is whether there is extant or extinct life elsewhere the Solar System. Implicit in much of this work is that we are looking for microbial or, at best, unintelligent life, even though…
Transmission spectroscopy of transiting exoplanets is a proven technique that can yield information on the composition and structure of a planet's atmosphere. However, transmission spectra may be compromised by inhomogeneities in the…
WASP-107b is a warm (~740 K) transiting planet with a Neptune-like mass of ~30.5 Earth masses and Jupiter-like radius of ~0.94 Jupiter radius, whose extended atmosphere is eroding. Previous observations showed evidence for water vapour and…
Solar system exploration provides numerous possibilities for advancing technosignature science. The search for life in the solar system includes missions designed to search for evidence of biosignatures on other planetary bodies, but many…
(abridged) The Super-Earth candidate GL 581 d is the first potentially habitable extrasolar planet. Therefore, GL 581 d is used to illustrate a hypothetical detailed spectroscopic characterization of such planets. Atmospheric profiles from…
The search for a second instance of life is one of the greatest problems of modern science. Outside of creating an artificial origin of life on Earth, the primary targets for the search for life are planets inside or outside the solar…
The properties of the smallest subunits of cometary dust contain information on their origin and clues to the formation of planetesimals and planets. Compared to IDPs or particles collected during the Stardust mission, dust collected in the…
Interstellar objects provide the only directly observable samples of icy planetesimals formed around other stars, and can therefore provide insight into the diversity of physical and chemical conditions occurring during exoplanet formation.…
The search for life on exoplanets is motivated by the universal ways in which life could modify its planetary environment. Atmospheric gases such as oxygen and methane are promising candidates for such environmental modification due to the…