Garani, R., & Palomares-Ruiz, S. (2017). Dark matter in the Sun: scattering off electrons vs nucleons. J. Cosmol. Astropart. Phys., 05(5), 007–41pp.
Abstract: The annihilation of dark matter (DM) particles accumulated in the Sun could produce a flux of neutrinos, which is potentially detectable with neutrino detectors/telescopes and the DM elastic scattering cross section can be constrained. Although the process of DM capture in astrophysical objects like the Sun is commonly assumed to be due to interactions only with nucleons, there are scenarios in which tree-level DM couplings to quarks are absent, and even if loop-induced interactions with nucleons are allowed, scatterings off electrons could be the dominant capture mechanism. We consider this possibility and study in detail all the ingredients necessary to compute the neutrino production rates from DM annihilationsin the Sun (capture, annihilation and evaporation rates) for velocity-independent and isotropic, velocity-dependent and isotropic and momentum-dependent scattering cross sections for DM interactions with electrons and compare them with the results obtained for the case of interactions with nucleons. Moreover, we improve the usual calculations in a number of ways and provide analytical expressions in three appendices. Interestingly, we find that the evaporation mass in the case of interactions with electrons could be below the GeV range, depending on the high-velocity tail of the DM distribution in the Sun, which would open a new mass window for searching for this type of scenarios.
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Moline, A., Sanchez-Conde, M. A., Palomares-Ruiz, S., & Prada, F. (2017). Characterization of subhalo structural properties and implications for dark matter annihilation signals. Mon. Not. Roy. Astron. Soc., 466(4), 4974–4990.
Abstract: A prediction of the standard Lambda cold dark matter cosmology is that dark matter (DM) haloes are teeming with numerous self-bound substructure or subhaloes. The precise properties of these subhaloes represent important probes of the underlying cosmological model. We use data from Via Lactea II and Exploring the Local Volume in Simulations N-body simulations to learn about the structure of subhaloes with masses 10(6)-10(11) h(-1) M circle dot. Thanks to a superb subhalo statistics, we study subhalo properties as a function of distance to host halo centre and subhalo mass, and provide a set of fits that accurately describe the subhalo structure. We also investigate the role of subhaloes on the search for DM annihilation. Previous work has shown that subhaloes are expected to boost the DM signal of their host haloes significantly. Yet, these works traditionally assumed that subhaloes exhibit similar structural properties than those of field haloes, while it is known that subhaloes are more concentrated. Building upon our N-body data analysis, we refine the substructure boost model of Sanchez-Conde & Prada (2014), and find boosts that are a factor 2-3 higher. We further refine the model to include unavoidable tidal stripping effects on the subhalo population. For field haloes, this introduces a moderate (similar to 20-30 per cent) suppression. Yet, for subhaloes like those hosting dwarf galaxy satellites, tidal stripping plays a critical role, the boost being at the level of a few tens of percent at most. We provide a parametrization of the boost for field haloes that can be safely applied over a wide halo mass range.
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ANTARES Collaboration(Albert, A. et al), Barrios-Marti, J., Hernandez-Rey, J. J., Illuminati, G., Lotze, M., Tönnis, C., et al. (2017). Results from the search for dark matter in the Milky Way with 9 years of data of the ANTARES neutrino telescope. Phys. Lett. B, 769, 249–254.
Abstract: Using data recorded with the ANTARES telescope from 2007 to 2015, a new search for dark matter annihilation in the Milky Way has been performed. Three halo models and five annihilation channels, WIMP + WIMP -> b (b) over bar, W+W-, tau(+)tau(-), mu(+)mu(-) and v (v) over bar, with WIMP masses ranging from 50 2 GeV/C-2 to 100 Tev/C-2, were considered. No excess over the expected background was found, and limits on the thermally averaged annihilation cross-section were set.
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Escudero, M., Hooper, D., & Witte, S. J. (2017). Updated collider and direct detection constraints on Dark Matter models for the Galactic Center gamma-ray excess. J. Cosmol. Astropart. Phys., 02(2), 038–21pp.
Abstract: Utilizing an exhaustive set of simplified models, we revisit dark matter scenarios potentially capable of generating the observed Galactic Center gamma-ray excess, updating constraints from the LUX and PandaX- II experiments, as well as from the LHC and other colliders. We identify a variety of pseudoscalar mediated models that remain consistent with all constraints. In contrast, dark matter candidates which annihilate through a spin-1 mediator are ruled out by direct detection constraints unless the mass of the mediator is near an annihilation resonance, or the mediator has a purely vector coupling to the dark matter and a purely axial coupling to Standard Model fermions. All scenarios in which the dark matter annihilates throught-channel processes are now ruled out by a combination of the constraints from LUX/ PandaX-II and the LHC.
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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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