Fornengo, N., Lineros, R. A., Regis, M., & Taoso, M. (2012). Galactic synchrotron emission from WIMPs at radio frequencies. J. Cosmol. Astropart. Phys., 01(1), 005–25pp.
Abstract: Dark matter annihilations in the Galactic halo inject relativistic electrons and positrons which in turn generate a synchrotron radiation when interacting with the galactic magnetic field. We calculate the synchrotron flux for various dark matter annihilation channels, masses, and astrophysical assumptions in the low-frequency range and compare our results with radio surveys from 22 MHz to 1420 MHz. We find that current observations are able to constrain particle dark matter with “thermal” annihilation cross-sections, i.e. (sigma v) = 3 x 10(-26) cm(3) s(-1); and masses M-DM less than or similar to 10 GeV. We discuss the dependence of these bounds on the astrophysical assumptions, namely galactic dark matter distribution, cosmic rays propagation parameters, and structure of the galactic magnetic field. Prospects for detection in future radio surveys are outlined.
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Bertone, G., Cerdeño, D. G., Fornasa, M., Ruiz de Austri, R., Strege, C., & Trotta, R. (2012). Global fits of the cMSSM including the first LHC and XENON100 data. J. Cosmol. Astropart. Phys., 01(1), 015–23pp.
Abstract: We present updated global fits of the constrained Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (cMSSM), including the most recent constraints from the ATLAS and CMS detectors at the LHC, as well as the most recent results of the XENON100 experiment. Our robust analysis takes into account both astrophysical and hadronic uncertainties that enter in the calculation of the rate of WIMP-induced recoils in direct detection experiment. We study the consequences for neutralino Dark Matter, and show that current direct detection data already allow to robustly rule out the so-called Focus Point region, therefore demonstrating the importance of particle astrophysics experiments in constraining extensions of the Standard Model of Particle Physics. We also observe an increased compatibility between results obtained from a Bayesian and a Frequentist statistical perspective. We find that upcoming ton-scale direct detection experiments will probe essentially the entire currently favoured region (at the 99% level), almost independently of the statistical approach used. Prospects for indirect detection of the cMSSM are further reduced.
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Bringmann, T., Donato, F., & Lineros, R. A. (2012). Radio data and synchrotron emission in consistent cosmic ray models. J. Cosmol. Astropart. Phys., 01(1), 049–12pp.
Abstract: It is well established that phenomenological two-zone diffusion models of the galactic halo can very well reproduce cosmic-ray nuclear data and the observed antiproton flux. Here, we consider lepton propagation in such models and compute the expected galactic population of electrons, as well as the diffuse synchrotron emission that results from their interaction with galactic magnetic fields. We find models in agreement not only with cosmic ray data but also with radio surveys at essentially all frequencies. Requiring such a globally consistent description strongly disfavors very large (L greater than or similar to 15 kpc) and, even stronger, small (L less than or similar to 1 kpc) effective diffusive halo sizes. This has profound implications for, e.g., in direct dark matter searches.
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ATLAS Collaboration(Aad, G. et al), Amoros, G., Cabrera Urban, S., Castillo Gimenez, V., Costa, M. J., Ferrer, A., et al. (2012). Search for anomalous production of prompt like-sign muon pairs and constraints on physics beyond the standard model with the ATLAS detector. Phys. Rev. D, 85(3), 032004–23pp.
Abstract: An inclusive search for anomalous production of two prompt, isolated muons with the same electric charge is presented. The search is performed in a data sample corresponding to 1.6 fb(-1) of integrated luminosity collected in 2011 at root s = 7 TeV with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. Muon pairs are selected by requiring two isolated muons of the same electric charge with p(T) > 20 GeV and vertical bar eta vertical bar < 2.5. Minimal requirements are placed on the rest of the event activity. The distribution of the invariant mass of the muon pair m(mu mu) is found to agree well with the background expectation. Upper limits on the cross section for anomalous production of two muons with the same electric charge are placed as a function of m(mu mu) within a fiducial region defined by the event selection. The fiducial cross-section limit constrains the like-sign top-quark pair-production cross section to be below 3.7 pb at 95% confidence level. The data are also analyzed to search for a narrow like-sign dimuon resonance as predicted for e. g. doubly charged Higgs bosons (H-+/-+/-). Assuming pair production of H-+/-+/- bosons and a branching ratio to muons of 100% (33%), this analysis excludes masses below 355 (244) GeV and 251 (209) GeV for H-+/-+/- bosons coupling to left-handed and right-handed fermions, respectively.
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Navarro, J., Mateo, D., Barranco, M., & Sarsa, A. (2012). Mg impurity in helium droplets. J. Chem. Phys., 136(5), 054301–9pp.
Abstract: Within the diffusion Monte Carlo approach, we have determined the structure of isotopically pure and mixed helium droplets doped with one magnesium atom. For pure He-4 clusters, our results confirm those of Mella et al. [J. Chem. Phys. 123, 054328 (2005)1 that the impurity experiences a transition from a surface to a bulk location as the number of helium atoms in the droplet increases. Contrarily, for pure He-3 clusters Mg resides in the bulk of the droplet due to the smaller surface tension of this isotope. Results for mixed droplets are presented. We have also obtained the absorption spectrum of Mg around the 3s3p P-1(1) <- 3s(2) S-1(0) transition.
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