Speaker
Description
The nature of dark matter (DM) has been a primary interest in cosmology and beyond Standard Model physics. Leading models, such as WIMPs, theorize a coupling with the Standard Model (SM) that allow for scattering off SM particles. Direct detection experiments, such as XENON1T and LUX, search for these DM scattering events and have determined constraints on DM models, but have not yet detected a confirmed event. With constraints coming close to the neutrino floor, there are concerns about the closing parameter space for DM particle masses in the GeV to PeV range. Another approach is to explore indirect detection methods. Celestial bodies, such as neutron stars, can be used as cosmic laboratories for DM detection. If WIMPs captured by the neutron star scatter off nucleons, they can heat the star via kinetic heating. Here we consider a scenario of a neutron star undergoing kinetic heating due to encounters with DM subhalos, opening the discussion of a ”clumpy” dark matter distribution of the Milky Way that would allows us to relax some constraints imposed by direct detection experiments. We focus on asymmetric DM models that allow for scattering and explore the accumulation of particles in a neutron star over time and how it affects neutron star cooling curves.
