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Adhikari, R. et al, Pastor, S., & Valle, J. W. F. (2017). A White Paper on keV sterile neutrino Dark Matter. J. Cosmol. Astropart. Phys., 01(1), 025–247pp.
Abstract: We present a comprehensive review of keV-scale sterile neutrino Dark Matter, collecting views and insights from all disciplines involved – cosmology, astrophysics, nuclear, and particle physics – in each case viewed from both theoretical and experimental/observational perspectives. After reviewing the role of active neutrinos in particle physics, astrophysics, and cosmology, we focus on sterile neutrinos in the context of the Dark Matter puzzle. Here, we first review the physics motivation for sterile neutrino Dark Matter, based on challenges and tensions in purely cold Dark Matter scenarios. We then round out the discussion by critically summarizing all known constraints on sterile neutrino Dark Matter arising from astrophysical observations, laboratory experiments, and theoretical considerations. In this context, we provide a balanced discourse on the possibly positive signal from X-ray observations. Another focus of the paper concerns the construction of particle physics models, aiming to explain how sterile neutrinos of keV-scale masses could arise in concrete settings beyond the Standard Model of elementary particle physics. The paper ends with an extensive review of current and future astrophysical and laboratory searches, highlighting new ideas and their experimental challenges, as well as future perspectives for the discovery of sterile neutrinos.
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Guerrero, M., Mora-Perez, G., Olmo, G. J., Orazi, E., & Rubiera-Garcia, D. (2021). Charged BTZ-type solutions in Eddington-inspired Born-Infeld gravity. J. Cosmol. Astropart. Phys., 11(11), 025–23pp.
Abstract: We construct an axially symmetric solution of Eddington-inspired Born-Infeld gravity coupled to an electromagnetic field in 2 + 1 dimensions including a (negative) cosmological constant term. This is achieved by using a recently developed mapping procedure that allows to generate solutions in certain families of metric-affine gravity theories starting from a known seed solution of General Relativity, which in the present case corresponds to the electrically charged Banados-Teitelboim-Zanelli (BTZ) solution. We discuss the main features of the new configurations, including the modifications to the ergospheres and horizons, the emergence of wormhole structures, and the consequences for the regularity (or not) of these space-times via geodesic completeness.
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Pierre Auger Collaboration(Abreu, P. et al), & Pastor, S. (2013). Interpretation of the depths of maximum of extensive air showers measured by the Pierre Auger Observatory. J. Cosmol. Astropart. Phys., 02(2), 026–20pp.
Abstract: To interpret the mean depth of cosmic ray air shower maximum and its dispersion, we parametrize those two observables as functions of the first two moments of the ln A distribution. We examine the goodness of this simple method through simulations of test mass distributions. The application of the parameterization to Pierre Auger Observatory data allows one to study the energy dependence of the mean ln A and of its variance under the assumption of selected hadronic interaction models. We discuss possible implications of these dependences in term of interaction models and astrophysical cosmic ray sources.
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Beltran Jimenez, J., Heisenberg, L., & Olmo, G. J. (2015). Tensor perturbations in a general class of Palatini theories. J. Cosmol. Astropart. Phys., 06(6), 026–16pp.
Abstract: We study a general class of gravitational theories formulated in the Palatini approach and derive the equations governing the evolution of tensor perturbations. In the absence of torsion, the connection can be solved as the Christoffel symbols of an auxiliary metric which is non-trivially related to the space-time metric. We then consider background solutions corresponding to a perfect fluid and show that the tensor perturbations equations (including anisotropic stresses) for the auxiliary metric around such a background take an Einstein-like form. This facilitates the study in a homogeneous and isotropic cosmological scenario where we explicitly establish the relation between the auxiliary metric and the spacetime metric tensor perturbations. As a general result, we show that both tensor perturbations coincide in the absence of anisotropic stresses.
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Bertone, G., Bozorgnia, N., Kim, J. S., Liem, S., McCabe, C., Otten, S., et al. (2018). Identifying WIMP dark matter from particle and astroparticle data. J. Cosmol. Astropart. Phys., 03(3), 026–42pp.
Abstract: One of the most promising strategies to identify the nature of dark matter consists in the search for new particles at accelerators and with so-called direct detection experiments. Working within the framework of simplified models, and making use of machine learning tools to speed up statistical inference, we address the question of what we can learn about dark matter from a detection at the LHC and a forthcoming direct detection experiment. We show that with a combination of accelerator and direct detection data, it is possible to identify newly discovered particles as dark matter, by reconstructing their relic density assuming they are weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs) thermally produced in the early Universe, and demonstrating that it is consistent with the measured dark matter abundance. An inconsistency between these two quantities would instead point either towards additional physics in the dark sector, or towards a non-standard cosmology, with a thermal history substantially different from that of the standard cosmological model.
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