Related papers: MACHO versus HST: how bright can dark matter be?
The idea that dark matter can be made of intermediate-mass primordial black holes in the $10M_\odot \lesssim M \lesssim 200M_\odot$ range has recently been reconsidered, particularly in the light of the detection of gravitational waves by…
The nature of dark matter (DM) is still under intense debate. Sub-galactic scales are particularly critical, as different, currently viable DM models make diverse predictions on the expected abundance and density profile of DM haloes on…
We investigate the published constraints on MACHOs in the mass region $10^2 - 10^5 M_{\odot}$ and their possible contribution to dark matter. We focus on constraints which rely on the accretion of matter which emits X-rays that can lead,…
I review recent results from gravitational microlensing surveys of the Large Magellanic Cloud. The combined microlensing optical depth of the MACHO and EROS-1 surveys is tau_LMC = 2.1{+1.3/-0.8}* 10^{-7} which is substantially larger than…
The cold dark matter halo mass function is much steeper than the galaxy stellar mass function on galactic and subgalactic scales. This difference is usually reconciled by assuming that the galaxy formation efficiency drops sharply with…
Compact dark matter has been efficiently constrained in the M <~ 10 M_sun mass range by null searches for microlensing of stars in nearby galaxies. Here we propose to probe the mass range M >~ 10 M_sun by seeking echoes in gamma-ray-burst…
The MACHO collaboration lensing event statistics suggest that a significant fraction of the dark galactic halo can be comprised of baryonic matter in the form of white dwarf stars with masses between 0.1 and 1.0 \Msun . Such a halo white…
Using eight dark matter haloes extracted from fully-self consistent cosmological N-body simulations, we perform microlensing experiments. A hypothetical observer is placed at a distance of 8.5 kpc from the centre of the halo measuring…
The total mass M_GCS in the globular cluster (GC) system of a galaxy is empirically a near-constant fraction of the total mass M_h = M_bary + M_dark of the galaxy, across a range of 10^5 in galaxy mass. This trend is radically unlike the…
Dark Matter (DM) halos with masses below $\sim10^{8}$ $M_{\odot}$, which would help to discriminate between DM models, may be detected through their gravitational effect on distant sources. The same applies to primordial black holes,…
Dark matter may be in the form of non-baryonic structures such as compact subhalos and boson stars. Structures weighing between asteroid and solar masses may be discovered via gravitational microlensing, an astronomical probe that has in…
We explore a novel search strategy for dark matter in the form of massive compact halo objects (MACHOs) such as primordial black holes or dense mini-halos in the mass range from $10^{-4}$ to 0.1 solar masses. These objects can…
If cluster dark matter is in the form of compact objects it will introduce fluctuations into the light curves of distant sources. Current searches for MACHOs in clusters of galaxies focus on monitoring quasars behind nearby systems. This…
The simplest interpretation of the microlensing events observed towards the Large Magellanic Clouds is that approximately half of the mass of the Milky Way halo is in the form of MAssive Compact Halo Objects with $M \sim 0.5 M_{\odot}$. It…
I will begin by reviewing the evidence for Dark Matter in the Universe, as well as the candidates for dark matter. At most 20% of the dark matter in galaxies can be in the form of MACHOs (Massive Compact Halo Objects); the remainder appears…
It has been proposed that the MACHOs in our galaxy could be clumped in globular cluster--like associations or RAMBOs (robust associations of massive baryonic objects) (Moore \& Silk 1995). Here we investigate the effect such clustering has…
In the framework of the search of dark matter in galactic halos in form of massive compact halo object (MACHOs), we discuss the status of microlensing observations towards the Magellanic Clouds and the Andromeda galaxy, M31. The detection…
The distribution of the stellar and gaseous components in low surface brightness galaxies has been determined directly from optical and HI imaging. The distribution of what might be the dominant mass component, the dark matter, which is…
(Abridged) Axisymmetric models of the Milky Way exhibit strong interrelations between the Galactic constants (R_0 and T_0), the stellar columndensity (S_*) and the shape of the dark matter (DM) halo. Here we present analytical relations…
A substantial fraction the stellar mass attributed to galaxies is invisible: stars close to the hydrogen burning limit, brown dwarfs, white dwarfs, neutron stars and black holes. These constituents do, however, gravitationally micro-lens…