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The search for life beyond the solar system is a central goal in exoplanetary science. Exoplanet surveys are increasingly detecting potentially habitable exoplanets and large telescopes in space and on ground are aiming to detect possible…
Oxygen is a well-studied biosignature. Studying potential abiotic pathways for O2 build-up in exoplanet atmospheres is essential for evaluating whether the detection of O2 would constitute a biosignature detection on other worlds. Previous…
We study the spectrum of a planetary atmosphere to derive detectable features in low resolution of different global geochemical cycles on exoplanets - using the sulphur cycle as our example. We derive low resolution detectable features for…
Exoplanet atmospheres are usually discussed as tracers of climate, chemistry, and habitability, but they may also preserve signatures of planetary defense. We consider three folklore-motivated deterrents against monsters: reduced…
The cosmic antideuteron is a promising probe for the dark matter annihilation signature. In order to determine the DM signature, the background astrophysical antideuteron flux should be carefully studied. In this work we provide a new…
Planet Earth has evolved from an entirely anoxic planet with possibly a different tectonic regime to the oxygenated world with horizontal plate tectonics that we know today. For most of this time, Earth has been inhabited by a purely…
The signals from outer space and their detection have been playing an important role in particle physics, especially in discoveries of and searches for physics beyond the Standard Model (BSM); beyond the evidence of dark matter (DM), for…
JWST recently measured the transmission spectrum of K2-18b, a habitable-zone sub-Neptune exoplanet, detecting CH$_4$ and CO$_2$ in its atmosphere. The discovery paper argued the data are best explained by a habitable "Hycean" world,…
Exoplanet observations promise one day to unveil the presence of extraterrestrial life. Atmospheric compounds in strong chemical disequilibrium would point to large-scale biological activity just as oxygen and methane do in the Earth's…
Ozone is a potential biosignature and disambuguator between Earth-like and Venus-like exoplanets due to its association on Earth with photosynthetically produced oxygen (O$_2$). However, the existence of ozone in Venus's observable…
The search for atmospheric biosignatures in Earth-like exoplanets is one of the most pressing challenges in observational astrobiology. Detecting biogenic gases in terrestrial planets requires high-resolution observations and long…
A recent observation of the exoplanet K2-18b sparked interest among scientists - large amounts of carbon dioxide and methane were detected in an H2-rich background atmosphere. If the planet is a hycean world (liquid water ocean +…
In order to assess observational evidence for potential atmospheric biosignatures on exoplanets, it will be essential to test whether spectral fingerprints from multiple gases can be explained by abiotic or biotic-only processes. Here, we…
The HST/NICMOS transmission spectrum measurements of HD 189733b that suggest the detection of methane (CH$_{4}$) in an exoplanet atmosphere have been a source of significant controversy. With what is probably the best analyzed exoplanet…
Over the past several decades, unexpected astronomical discoveries have been fueling a new wave of particle model building and are inspiring the next generation of ever-more-sophisticated simulations to reveal the nature of Dark Matter…
The search for extraterrestrial life hinges on identifying biosignatures, often focusing on gaseous metabolic byproducts as indicators. However, most such biosignatures require assuming specific metabolic processes. It is widely recognized…
As the closest transiting hot Jupiter to Earth, HD 189733b has been the benchmark planet for atmospheric characterization. It has also been the anchor point for much of our theoretical understanding of exoplanet atmospheres from…
The search for life in the universe mainly uses modern Earth as a template. However, we know that Earth's atmospheric composition changed significantly through its geological evolution. Recent discoveries show that transiting, potentially…
Coupled one-dimensional photochemical-climate calculations have been performed for hypothetical Earth-like planets around M dwarfs. Visible, near-infrared and thermal-infrared synthetic spectra of these planets were generated to determine…
The Milky Way (MW) dwarf spheroidal satellite galaxies (dSphs) are particularly intriguing targets to search for gamma rays from Weakly Interacting Massive Particle (WIMP) dark matter (DM) annihilation or decay. They are nearby,…