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Bernal, N., Boehm, C., Palomares-Ruiz, S., Silk, J., & Toma, T. (2013). Observing Higgs boson production through its decay into gamma-rays: A messenger for dark matter candidates. Phys. Lett. B, 723(1-3), 100–106.
Abstract: In this Letter, we study the gamma-ray signatures subsequent to the production of a Higgs boson in space by dark matter annihilations. We investigate the cases where the Higgs boson is produced at rest or slightly boosted and show that such configurations can produce characteristic bumps in the gamma-ray data. These results are relevant in the case of the Standard Model-like Higgs boson provided that the dark matter mass is about 63 GeV, 109 GeV or 126 GeV, but can be generalized to any other Higgs boson masses. Here, we point out that it may be worth looking for a 63 GeV line since it could be the signature of the decay of a Standard Model-like Higgs boson produced in space, as in the case of a di-Higgs final state if m chi similar or equal to 126 GeV. We show that one can set generic constraints on the Higgs boson production rates using its decay properties. In particular, using the Fermi-LAT data from the galactic center, we find that the dark matter annihilation cross section into gamma+ a Standard Model-like Higgs boson produced at rest or near rest cannot exceed (sigma nu) similar to a few 10(-25) cm(3)/s or (sigma-nu) similar to a few 10(-27) cm(3)/s respectively, providing us with information on the Higgs coupling to the dark matter particle. We conclude that Higgs bosons can indeed be used as messengers to explore the dark matter mass range.
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Bernal, N., Munoz-Albornoz, V., Palomares-Ruiz, S., & Villanueva-Domingo, P. (2022). Current and future neutrino limits on the abundance of primordial black holes. J. Cosmol. Astropart. Phys., 10(10), 068–38pp.
Abstract: Primordial black holes (PBHs) formed in the early Universe are sources of neutrinos emitted via Hawking radiation. Such astrophysical neutrinos could be detected at Earth and constraints on the abundance of comet-mass PBHs could be derived from the null observation of this neutrino flux. Here, we consider non-rotating PBHs and improve constraints using Super-Kamiokande neutrino data, as well as we perform forecasts for next-generation neutrino (Hyper-Kamiokande, JUNO, DUNE) and dark matter (DARWIN, ARGO) detectors, which we compare. For PBHs less massive than " few x 1014 g, PBHs would have already evaporated by now, whereas more massive PBHs would still be present and would constitute a fraction of the dark matter of the Universe. We consider monochromatic and extended (log-normal) mass distributions, and a PBH mass range spanning from 1012 g to ti 1016 g. Finally, we also compare our results with previous ones in the literature.
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Bernal, N., Donini, A., Folgado, M. G., & Rius, N. (2020). Kaluza-Klein FIMP dark matter in warped extra-dimensions. J. High Energy Phys., 09(9), 142–31pp.
Abstract: We study for the first time the case in which Dark Matter (DM) is made of Feebly Interacting Massive Particles (FIMP) interacting just gravitationally with the standard model particles in an extra-dimensional Randall-Sundrum scenario. We assume that both the dark matter and the standard model are localized in the IR-brane and only interact via gravitational mediators, namely the graviton, the Kaluza-Klein gravitons and the radion. We found that in the early Universe DM could be generated via two main processes: the direct freeze-in and the sequential freeze-in. The regions where the observed DM relic abundance is produced are largely compatible with cosmological and collider bounds.
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Bernal, N., Donini, A., Folgado, M. G., & Rius, N. (2021). FIMP Dark Matter in Clockwork/Linear Dilaton extra-dimensions. J. High Energy Phys., 04(4), 061–29pp.
Abstract: We study the possibility that Dark Matter (DM) is made of Feebly Interacting Massive Particles (FIMP) interacting just gravitationally with the Standard Model particles in the framework of a Clockwork/Linear Dilaton (CW/LD) model. We restrict here to the case in which the DM particles are scalar fields. This paper extends our previous study of FIMP's in Randall-Sundrum (RS) warped extra-dimensions. As it was the case in the RS scenario, also in the CW/LD model we find a significant region of the parameter space in which the observed DM relic abundance can be reproduced with scalar DM mass in the MeV range, with a reheating temperature varying from 10 GeV to 10(9) GeV. We comment on the similarities of the results in both extra-dimensional models.
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Bernal, N., Martin-Albo, J., & Palomares-Ruiz, S. (2013). A novel way of constraining WIMPs annihilations in the Sun: MeV neutrinos. J. Cosmol. Astropart. Phys., 08(8), 011–19pp.
Abstract: Annihilation of dark matter particles accumulated in the Sun would produce a flux of high-energy neutrinos whose prospects of detection in neutrino telescopes and detectors have been extensively discussed in the literature. However, for annihilations into Standard Model particles, there would also be a flux of neutrinos in the MeV range from the decays at rest of muons and positively charged pions. These low-energy neutrinos have never been considered before and they open the possibility to also constrain dark matter annihilation in the Sun into e(+)e(-), mu(+)mu(-) or light quarks. Here we perform a detailed analysis using the recent Super-Kamiokande data in the few tens of MeV range to set limits on the WIMP-nucleon scattering cross section for different annihilation channels and computing the evaporation rate of WIMPs from the Sun for all values of the scattering cross section in a consistent way.
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