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Aja, B. et al, & Gimeno, B. (2022). The Canfranc Axion Detection Experiment (CADEx): search for axions at 90 GHz with Kinetic Inductance Detectors. J. Cosmol. Astropart. Phys., 11(11), 044–29pp.
Abstract: We propose a novel experiment, the Canfranc Axion Detection Experiment (CADEx), to probe dark matter axions with masses in the range 330-460 μeV, within the W-band (80-110 GHz), an unexplored parameter space in the well-motivated dark matter window of Quantum ChromoDynamics (QCD) axions. The experimental design consists of a microwave resonant cavity haloscope in a high static magnetic field coupled to a highly sensitive detecting system based on Kinetic Inductance Detectors via optimized quasi-optics (horns and mirrors). The experiment is in preparation and will be installed in the dilution refrigerator of the Canfranc Underground Laboratory. Sensitivity forecasts for axion detection with CADEx, together with the potential of the experiment to search for dark photons, are presented.
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Gammaldi, V., Zaldivar, B., Sanchez-Conde, M. A., & Coronado-Blazquez, J. (2023). A search for dark matter among Fermi-LAT unidentified sources with systematic features in machine learning. Mon. Not. Roy. Astron. Soc., 520(1), 1348–1361.
Abstract: Around one-third of the point-like sources in the Fermi-LAT catalogues remain as unidentified sources (unIDs) today. Indeed, these unIDs lack a clear, univocal association with a known astrophysical source. If dark matter (DM) is composed of weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs), there is the exciting possibility that some of these unIDs may actually be DM sources, emitting gamma-rays from WIMPs annihilation. We propose a new approach to solve the standard, machine learning (ML) binary classification problem of disentangling prospective DM sources (simulated data) from astrophysical sources (observed data) among the unIDs of the 4FGL Fermi-LAT catalogue. We artificially build two systematic features for the DM data which are originally inherent to observed data: the detection significance and the uncertainty on the spectral curvature. We do it by sampling from the observed population of unIDs, assuming that the DM distributions would, if any, follow the latter. We consider different ML models: Logistic Regression, Neural Network (NN), Naive Bayes, and Gaussian Process, out of which the best, in terms of classification accuracy, is the NN, achieving around 93 . 3 per cent +/- 0 . 7 per cent performance. Other ML evaluation parameters, such as the True Ne gativ e and True Positive rates, are discussed in our work. Applying the NN to the unIDs sample, we find that the de generac y between some astrophysical and DM sources can be partially solved within this methodology. None the less, we conclude that there are no DM source candidates among the pool of 4FGL Fermi-LAT unIDs.
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Feng, J. L. et al, Garcia Soto, A., & Hirsch, M. (2023). The Forward Physics Facility at the High-Luminosity LHC. J. Phys. G, 50(3), 030501–410pp.
Abstract: High energy collisions at the High-Luminosity Large Hadron Collider (LHC) produce a large number of particles along the beam collision axis, outside of the acceptance of existing LHC experiments. The proposed Forward Physics Facility (FPF), to be located several hundred meters from the ATLAS interaction point and shielded by concrete and rock, will host a suite of experiments to probe standard model (SM) processes and search for physics beyond the standard model (BSM). In this report, we review the status of the civil engineering plans and the experiments to explore the diverse physics signals that can be uniquely probed in the forward region. FPF experiments will be sensitive to a broad range of BSM physics through searches for new particle scattering or decay signatures and deviations from SM expectations in high statistics analyses with TeV neutrinos in this low-background environment. High statistics neutrino detection will also provide valuable data for fundamental topics in perturbative and non-perturbative QCD and in weak interactions. Experiments at the FPF will enable synergies between forward particle production at the LHC and astroparticle physics to be exploited. We report here on these physics topics, on infrastructure, detector, and simulation studies, and on future directions to realize the FPF's physics potential.
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Garcfa-Barcelo, J. M., Melcon, A. A., Cuendis, S. A., Diaz-Morcillo, A., Gimeno, B., Kanareykin, A., et al. (2023). On the Development of New Tuning and Inter-Coupling Techniques Using Ferroelectric Materials in the Detection of Dark Matter Axions. IEEE Access, 11, 30360–30372.
Abstract: Tuning is an essential requirement for the search of dark matter axions employing haloscopes since its mass is not known yet to the scientific community. At the present day, most haloscope tuning systems are based on mechanical devices which can lead to failures due to the complexity of the environment in which they are used. However, the electronic tuning making use of ferroelectric materials can provide a path that is less vulnerable to mechanical failures and thus complements and expands current tuning systems. In this work, we present and design a novel technique for using the ferroelectric Potassium Tantalate (KTaO3 or KTO) material as a tuning element in haloscopes based on coupled microwave cavities. In this line, the structures used in the Relic Axion Detector Exploratory Setup (RADES) group are based on several cavities that are connected by metallic irises, which act as interresonator coupling elements. In this article, we also show how to use these KTaO3 films as interresonator couplings between cavities, instead of inductive or capacitive metallic windows used in the past. These two techniques represent a crucial upgrade over the current systems employed in the dark matter axions community, achieving a tuning range of 2.23% which represents a major improvement as compared to previous works (<0.1%) for the same class of tuning systems. The theoretical and simulated results shown in this work demonstrate the interest of the novel techniques proposed for the incorporation of this kind of ferroelectric media in multicavity resonant haloscopes in the search for dark matter axions.
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Martin Lozano, V., Sanda Seoane, R. M., & Zurita, J. (2023). Z'-explorer 2.0: Reconnoitering the dark matter landscape. Comput. Phys. Commun., 288, 108729–14pp.
Abstract: We introduce version 2.0 of Z'-explorer, a software tool that provides a simple, fast, and user-friendly test of models with an extra U (1) gauge boson (Z') against experimental LHC results. The main novelty of the second version is the inclusion of missing energy searches, as the first version only included final states into SM particles. Hence Z'-explorer 2.0 is able to test dark matter models where the Z' acts as an s-channel mediator between the Standard Model and the dark sector, a widespread benchmark employed by the ATLAS and CMS experimental collaborations. To this end, we perform here the first public reinterpretation of the most recent ATLAS mono-jet search with 139 fb-1. In addition, the corresponding searches in the visible final states have also been updated. We illustrate the power of our code by re -obtaining public plots and also showing novel results. In particular, we study the cases where the Z' couples strongly to top quarks (top-philic), where dark matter couples with a mixture of vector and axial-vector couplings, and also perform a scan in the parameter space of a string inspired Stuckelberg model. Z'-explorer 2.0 is publicly available on GitHub. Program summary Program Title: Z'-explorer 2.0 CPC Library link to program files: https://doi .org /10 .17632 /k7tdp8kwgf .2 Developer's repository link: https://github .com /ro -sanda /Z--explorer-2 .0 Licensing provisions: GPLv3 Programming language: C++ and bash Nature of problem: New SM neutral gauge bosons, Z', are ubiquitously present in models of New Physics. In order to confront these models versus a large and ever-growing library of LHC searches, Z'-explorer 1.0 had already included all final states including Standard Model particles. Notably, the previous version of this tool lacked the so-called invisible final states manifested as a momentum imbalance in the transverse plane (“missing energy”). These searches help to probe mediators into a dark sector, where a dark matter candidate resides. Solution method: Z'-explorer encodes the production cross sections for Z' bosons at the LHC as a function of their mass, allowing for a fast evaluation of the exclusion limits. This version of Z'-explorer includes a careful validation of the latest search with one energetic jet (mono-jet) performed by the ATLAS collaboration. Hence one can now test if a given point in parameter space is excluded by both visible and invisible searches. The modular structure of the code has been kept, which allows for potential additions (low-energy constraints, flavor, extrapolation to future colliders).
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Kim, J. S., Lopez-Fogliani, D. E., Perez, A. D., & Ruiz de Austri, R. (2023). Right-handed sneutrino and gravitino multicomponent dark matter in light of neutrino detectors. J. Cosmol. Astropart. Phys., 04(4), 050–32pp.
Abstract: We investigate the possibility that right-handed (RH) sneutrinos and gravitinos can coexist and explain the dark matter (DM) problem. We compare extensions of the minimal supersymmetric standard model (MSSM) and the next-to-MSSM (NMSSM) adding RH neutrinos superfields, with special emphasis on the latter. If the gravitino is the lightest supersymmetric particle (LSP) and the RH sneutrino the next-to-LSP (NLSP), the heavier particle decays to the former plus left-handed (LH) neutrinos through the mixing between the scalar partners of the LH and RH neutrinos. However, the interaction is suppressed by the Planck mass, and if the LH-RH sneutrino mixing parameter is small, << O(10-2), a long-lived RH sneutrino NLSP is possible even surpassing the age of the Universe. As a byproduct, the NLSP to LSP decay produces monochromatic neutrinos in the ballpark of current and planned neutrino telescopes like Super-Kamiokande, IceCube and Antares that we use to set constraints and show prospects of detection. In the NMSSM+RHN, assuming a gluino mass parameter M3 = 3 TeV we found the following lower limits for the gravitino mass m3/2 >= 1-600 GeV and the reheating temperature TR >= 105-3 x 107 GeV, for m nu similar to R similar to 10-800 GeV. If we take M3 = 10 TeV, then the limits on TR are relaxed by one order of magnitude.
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Jueid, A., Kip, J., Ruiz de Austri, R., & Skands, P. (2023). Impact of QCD uncertainties on antiproton spectra from dark-matter annihilation. J. Cosmol. Astropart. Phys., 04(4), 068–15pp.
Abstract: Dark-matter particles that annihilate or decay can undergo complex sequences of processes, including strong and electromagnetic radiation, hadronisation, and hadron de-cays, before particles that are stable on astrophysical time scales are produced. Antiprotons produced in this way may leave footprints in experiments such as AMS-02. Several groups have reported an excess of events in the antiproton flux in the rigidity range of 10-20 GV. However, the theoretical modeling of baryon production is not straightforward and relies in part on phenomenological models in Monte Carlo event generators. In this work, we assess the impact of QCD uncertainties on the spectra of antiprotons from dark-matter annihila-tion. As a proof-of-principle, we show that for a two-parameter model that depends only on the thermally-averaged annihilation cross section ((o -v)) and the dark-matter mass (Mx), QCD uncertainties can affect the best-fit mass by up to ti 14% (with large uncertainties for large DM masses), depending on the choice of Mx and the annihilation channel (bb over bar or W+W-), and (o -v) by up to ti 10%. For comparison, changes to the underlying diffusion parameters are found to be within 1%-5%, and the results are also quite resilient to the choice of cosmic-ray propagation model. These findings indicate that QCD uncertainties need to be included in future DM analyses. To facilitate full-fledged analyses, we provide the spectra in tabulated form including QCD uncertainties and code snippets to perform mass interpolations and quick DM fits. The code can be found in this GitHub [1] repository.
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Herrero-Garcia, J., Landini, G., & Vatsyayan, D. (2023). Asymmetries in extended dark sectors: a cogenesis scenario. J. High Energy Phys., 05(5), 049–41pp.
Abstract: The observed dark matter relic abundance may be explained by different mechanisms, such as thermal freeze-out/freeze-in, with one or more symmetric/asymmetric components. In this work we investigate the role played by asymmetries in determining the yield and nature of dark matter in non-minimal scenarios with more than one dark matter particle. In particular, we show that the energy density of a particle may come from an asymmetry, even if the particle is asymptotically symmetric by nature. To illustrate the different effects of asymmetries, we adopt a model with two dark matter components. We embed it in a multi-component cogenesis scenario that is also able to reproduce neutrino masses and the baryon asymmetry. In some cases, the model predicts an interesting monochromatic neutrino line that may be searched for at neutrino telescopes.
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Bonilla, C., Herms, J., Medina, O., & Peinado, E. (2023). Discrete dark matter mechanism as the source of neutrino mass scales. J. High Energy Phys., 06(6), 078–23pp.
Abstract: The hierarchy in scale between atmospheric and solar neutrino mass splittings is investigated through two distinct neutrino mass mechanisms from tree-level and one-loop-level contributions. We demonstrate that the minimal discrete dark matter mechanism contains the ingredients for explaining this hierarchy. This scenario is characterized by adding new RH neutrinos and SU(2)-doublet scalars to the Standard Model as triplet representations of an A(4) flavor symmetry. The A(4) symmetry breaking, which occurs at the electroweak scale, leads to a residual DOUBLE-STRUCK CAPITAL Z(2) symmetry responsible for the dark matter stability and dictates the neutrino phenomenology. Finally, we show that to reproduce the neutrino mixing angles correctly, it is necessary to violate CP in the scalar potential.
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Caron, S., Eckner, C., Hendriks, L., Johannesson, G., Ruiz de Austri, R., & Zaharijas, G. (2023). Mind the gap: the discrepancy between simulation and reality drives interpretations of the Galactic Center Excess. J. Cosmol. Astropart. Phys., 06(6), 013–56pp.
Abstract: The Galactic Center Excess (GCE) in GeV gamma rays has been debated for over a decade, with the possibility that it might be due to dark matter annihilation or undetected point sources such as millisecond pulsars (MSPs). This study investigates how the gamma-ray emission model (-yEM) used in Galactic center analyses affects the interpretation of the GCE's nature. To address this issue, we construct an ultra-fast and powerful inference pipeline based on convolutional Deep Ensemble Networks. We explore the two main competing hypotheses for the GCE using a set of-yEMs with increasing parametric freedom. We calculate the fractional contribution (fsrc) of a dim population of MSPs to the total luminosity of the GCE and analyze its dependence on the complexity of the ryEM. For the simplest ryEM, we obtain fsrc = 0.10 f 0.07, while the most complex model yields fsrc = 0.79 f 0.24. In conclusion, we find that the statement about the nature of the GCE (dark matter or not) strongly depends on the assumed ryEM. The quoted results for fsrc do not account for the additional uncertainty arising from the fact that the observed gamma-ray sky is out-of-distribution concerning the investigated ryEM iterations. We quantify the reality gap between our ryEMs using deep-learning-based One-Class Deep Support Vector Data Description networks, revealing that all employed ryEMs have gaps to reality. Our study casts doubt on the validity of previous conclusions regarding the GCE and dark matter, and underscores the urgent need to account for the reality gap and consider previously overlooked “out of domain” uncertainties in future interpretations.
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