Particle Physics on the Plains​ 2026

Session

Dark Matter

14 Nov 2026, 09:00

2048 Malott Hall (University of Kansas)

1. Producing the GeV Galactic Center Excess via Cosmic Ray-Dark Matter Scattering

Dr Deepak Sathyan

14/11/2026, 09:00

We propose a novel mechanism for generating gamma rays from the Galactic Center via scattering of cosmic-ray protons off dark matter in the Milky Way halo, in contrast to conventional explanations based on dark matter annihilation.
We present two examples of this framework that produce an observable photon signal.
In the inelastic dark matter model, cosmic rays up-scatter a lighter dark...

29. A Phase-Transition Portal to Enhanced Dark Matter Annihilation

Kairui Zhang (University of Oklahoma-Norman)

14/11/2026, 09:18

We present a thermal dark matter (DM) scenario in which a phase transition after freeze-out changes both the DM spectrum and the dominant annihilation process, allowing an enhanced present-day annihilation rate with suppressed direct detection. The surviving relic differs in mass and composition from the original state. We find relic-compatible solutions with present-day annihilation rates...

17. Supernova Bounds on Neutrinophilic Dark Matter

Christopher Cappiello

14/11/2026, 09:36

Supernova cooling has long been used to constrain physics beyond the Standard Model, typically including new mediators or dark matter particles that couple to protons or electrons. The large density of neutrinos inside supernovae also makes supernovae powerful laboratories to study non-standard neutrino interactions. In this work, we consider supernova production of dark matter that couples...

5. Threading a Narrow Neutrino Needle through LZ

Dibya S. Chattopadhyay (Oklahoma State University)

14/11/2026, 09:54

The LUX-ZEPLIN (LZ) experiment has reported an event consistent with a $248$ keV nuclear recoil, with no accompanying lower-energy recoil events. In this talk, I present a framework in which the LZ observation has a neutrino origin. A scenario in which atmospheric neutrinos directly upscatter to a heavier neutral state would also produce a large number of neutral-current events, with much...

41. Low-Energy Solar Neutrinos at XENONnT: Atomic Effects, Tensions, and New Physics

Aparajitha Karthikeyan (University of Iowa)

14/11/2026, 10:12

The XENONnT collaboration recently announced the detection of the lowest-energy $pp$ solar neutrinos to date, observed through scattering with atomically bound electrons. We discuss the important implications of this result for neutrino physics and for physics beyond the Standard Model. We place the measurement in the landscape of theoretical predictions and past experimental results. We show...