Conveners
Dark Matter: DM at accelerators
- Mudit Rai (Texas AM University)
Dark Matter: Direct Detection
- Matthew Szydagis
Dark Matter: DM at accelerators
- Brooks Thomas
Dark Matter: Direct Detection
- Rodolfo Capdevilla (Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory)
Dark Matter: ULDM
- Erwin Tanin (Johns Hopkins University)
Dark Matter: Model Building
- Robert McGehee (University of Minnesota)
Dark Matter: Model Building
- Julian Heeck
- Julian Heeck
Dark Matter: PBH and Atomic DM
- Yue Zhao
- Yue Zhao
Dark Matter: Astrophysical Probes
- Benjamin Lehmann (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)
Dark Matter: ULDM and Freeze-in
- Matthew Sullivan (Brookhaven National Laboratory)
Dark Matter: WIMPs, DM Simulation and ML
- Barmak Shams Es Haghi (University of Texas at Austin)
The lightest supersymmetric particles could be higgsinos that have a small mixing with gauginos. If the lightest higgsino-like state makes up some or all of the dark matter with a thermal freezeout density, then its mass must be between about 100 and 1150 GeV, and dark matter searches put bounds on the amount of gaugino contamination that it can have. Motivated by the generally good agreement...
The search for dark matter (DM) continues, with increasingly sensitive detectors at the WIMP scale, and novel detection techniques for discovering sub-GeV DM. In this talk I highlight two types of directionally sensitive experiments, in which the DM signal can be distinguished from the low-energy backgrounds. A new, highly efficient computational method can streamline the theory predictions,...
Cosmic ray (CR) upscattering of dark matter is one of the most straightforward mechanisms to accelerate ambient dark matter, making it detectable at high threshold, large volume experiments. In this work, we revisit CR upscattered dark matter signals at the IceCube detector, considering both proton and electron scattering, in the former case including both quasielastic and deep inelastic...
A search for ``emerging jets'' produced in proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV is performed using data collected by the CMS experiment corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 138 fb^-1. This search examines a hypothetical dark quantum chromodynamics (QCD) sector that couples to the standard model (SM) through a scalar mediator. The scalar mediator decays into an...
We study the physics of the intermediate scattering regime for boosted dark matter (BDM) interacting with standard model (SM) target nucleons. The phenomenon of BDM, which is consistent with many possible DM models, occurs when DM particles receive a Lorentz boost from some process. BDM would then exhibit similar behavior to neutrinos as it potentially interacts, at relativistic speeds, in...
Minimal Dark Matter models extend the Standard Model by incorporating a single electroweak multiplet, with its neutral component serving as a candidate for the thermal relic dark matter in the Universe. These models predict TeV-scale particles with sub-GeV mass splittings $\Delta$. Collider searches aim at producing the charged member of the electroweak multiplet which then decays into dark...
We perform a global fit of dark matter interactions with nucleons using a non-relativistic effective operator description, considering both direct detection and neutrino data. We examine the impact of combining the direct detection experiments CDMSlite, CRESST-II, CRESST-III, DarkSide-50, LUX, LZ, PandaX-II, PandaX-4T, PICO-60, SIMPLE, SuperCDMS, XENON100, and XENON1T along with neutrino data...
We propose anti-ferromagnets as optimal targets to hunt for sub-MeV dark matter with spin-dependent interactions. These materials allow for multi-magnon emission even for very small momentum transfers, and are therefore sensitive to dark matter particles as light as the keV. We use an effective theory to compute the event rates in a simple way. Among the materials studied here, we identify...
The possibility of a dark sector photon that couples to standard model lepton pairs has received much theoretical interest. Dark photons with GeV scale masses could have decays with substantial branching fractions to simple decay modes such as opposite-sign muon pairs. If the dark photon originates from a heavy particle, for example a BSM Higgs, the dark photon is boosted in the lab frame (CMS...
The mystery of dark matter is one of the greatest puzzles in modern science. What is 85% of the matter, or 25% of the mass/energy, of the universe made up of? No human knows for certain. Despite mountains of evidence from astrophysics and cosmology, direct laboratory detection eludes physicists. A leading candidate to explain dark matter is the WIMP or Weakly Interacting Massive Particle, a...
A search for dark matter (DM) produced in association with a resonant b$\bar{b}$ pair is performed in proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV collected with the CMS detector during the Run 2 of the Large Hadron Colllider. The analyzed data sample corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 137 fb$^{-1}$.
Results are interpreted in terms of a novel theoretical model of...
Dark matter, estimated to be 85% of the total mass of the Universe, remains a mystery in physics. Despite accumulating evidence supporting its existence, the true nature of dark matter is still elusive. One of the candidate's hypothesis are the Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs). The search for WIMPs represents a real experimental challenge, has been running for more than a decade...
We unveil blind spot regions in dark matter (DM) direct detection (DMDD), for weakly interacting massive particles with a mass around a few hundred~GeV that may reveal interesting photon signals at the LHC. We explore a scenario where the DM primarily originates from the singlet sector within the $Z_3$-symmetric Next-to-Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (NMSSM). A novel DMDD...
We have further developed the dark matter (DM) Migdal effect within semiconductors beyond the standard spin independent interaction. Ten additional non-relativistic operators are examined which motivate five unique nuclear responses within the crystal. We derive the generalized effective DM-lattice Migdal Hamiltonian and present new limits for the full list of interactions.
We will present the operational status of the LHC Run 3 milliQan detector un, whose installation began last year and was completed during the 2023-4 YETS, and is being commissioned at the time of submission. We will also show any available initial results from data obtained with Run 3 LHC Collisions.
As nuclear recoil direct detection experiments carve out more and more dark matter parameter space in the WIMP mass range, the need for searches probing lower masses has become evident. Since lower dark matter masses lead to smaller momentum transfers, we can look to the low momentum limit of nuclear recoils: phonon excitations in crystals. Single phonon experiments promise to eventually probe...
FASER, the ForwArd Search ExpeRiment, has successfully taken data at the LHC since the start of Run 3 in 2022. From its unique location along the beam collision axis 480 m from the ATLAS IP, FASER has set leading bounds on dark photon parameter space in the thermal target region and has world-leading sensitivity to many other models of long-lived particles. In this talk, we will give a full...
The constituents of dark matter are still unknown, and the viable possibilities span a very large mass range. Specific scenarios for the origin of dark matter sharpen the focus on a narrower range of masses: the natural scenario where dark matter originates from thermal contact with familiar matter in the early Universe requires the DM mass to lie within about an MeV to 100 TeV. Considerable...
The decay of asymmetric dark matter (ADM) leads to possible neutrino signatures with an asymmetry of neutrinos and antineutrinos. In the high-energy regime, the Glashow resonant interaction $\bar{\nu}_e+e^- \rightarrow W^-$ is the only way to differentiate the antineutrino contribution in the diffuse astrophysical high-energy neutrino flux experimentally, which provides a possibility to probe...
Dark glueballs, bound states of dark gluons in a $SU(N)$ dark sector (DS), have been considered as a dark matter (DM) candidate. We study a scenario where the DS consists only of dark gluons and dominates the Universe after primordial inflation. As the Universe expands and cools down, dark gluons get confined to a set of dark glueball states; they undergo freeze-out, leaving the Universe...
We introduce a model of dark matter (DM) where the DM is a composite of a spontaneously broken conformal field theory. We find that if the DM relic abundance is determined by freeze-out of annihilations to dilatons, where the dilatons are heavier than the DM, then the model is compatible with theoretical and experimental constraints for DM masses in the 0.1-10 GeV range. The conformal phase...
We explore the possibility of probing (ultra)-light dark matter (DM) using Mรถssbauer spectroscopy technique. Due to the time-oscillating DM background, a small shift in the emitted photon energy is produced, which in turn can be tested by the absorption spectrum. As the DM induced effect (signal) depends on the distance between the Mรถssbauer emitter and the absorber, this allows us to probe DM...
We outline a new production mechanism for dark matter that we dub โrecyclingโ:dark sector particles are kinematically trapped in the false vacuum during a dark phase transition; the false pockets collapse into primordial black holes (PBHs), which ultimately evaporate before Big Bang Nucleosynthesis (BBN) to reproduce the dark sector particles. The requirement that all PBHs evaporate prior to...
Atom interferometers and gradiometers have unique advantages in searching for various kinds of dark matter (DM). Our work focus on light DM scattering and gravitational effect from macroscopic DM in such experiments.
First we discuss sensitivities of atom interferometers to a light DM subcomponent at sub-GeV masses through decoherence and phase shift from spin-independent scatterings....
White dwarfs have long been considered as large-scale dark matter (DM) detectors. Owing to their high density and relatively large size, these objects can capture large amounts of DM, potentially producing detectable signals. In this talk, I will show how we can probe for the first time the elusive higgsino, one of the remaining supersymmetric DM candidates that is largely unconstrained, using...
A larger Planck scale during an early epoch leads to a smaller Hubble rate, which is the measure for efficiency of primordial processes. The resulting slower cosmic tempo can accommodate alternative cosmological histories. We consider this possibility in the context of extra dimensional theories, which can provide a natural setting for the scenario. If the fundamental scale of the theory...
We describe a simple dark sector structure which, if present, has implications for the direct detection of dark matter (DM): the Dark Sink. A Dark Sink transports energy density from the DM into light dark-sector states that do not appreciably contribute to the DM density. As an example, we consider a light, neutral fermion $\psi$ which interacts solely with DM $\chi$ via the exchange of a...
A QCD axion with a decay constant below $ 10 ^{ 11} ~{\rm GeV} $ is a strongly-motivated extension to the Standard Model, though its relic abundance from the misalignment mechanism or decay of cosmic defects is insufficient to explain the origin of dark matter. Nevertheless, such an axion may still play an important role in setting the dark matter density if it mediates a force between the...
Primordial black holes (PBHs) remain a viable dark matter candidate in the asteroid-mass range. We point out that in this scenario, the PBH abundance would be large enough for at least one object to cross through the inner Solar System per decade. Since Solar System ephemerides are modeled and measured to extremely high precision, such close encounters could produce detectable perturbations to...
If present in the early universe, primordial black holes (PBHs) will accrete matter and emit high-energy photons, altering the statistical properties of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB). This mechanism has been used to constrain the fraction of dark matter that is in the form of PBHs to be much smaller than unity for PBH masses well above one solar mass. Moreover, the presence of dense...
We demonstrate a novel mechanism for forming dark compact objects and black holes through a dissipative dark sector. Heavy dark sector particles can be responsible for an early matter dominated era before Big Bang Nucleosynthesis (BBN). Density perturbations in this epoch can grow and collapse into tiny dissipative dark matter halos, which can cool via self-interactions. Once these halos have...
Atomic Dark Matter (aDM) is a well motivated class of models which has potential to be discovered at ground based Direct Detection experiments. The class of models we consider contains a massless dark photon and two Dirac fermions with different masses and opposite dark charge (dark protons and dark electrons), which will generally interact with the Standard Model through a kinetic mixing...
A wide variety of celestial bodies have been considered as dark matter detectors. Which stands the best chance of delivering the discovery of dark matter? Which is the most powerful dark matter detector? We investigate a range of objects, including the Sun, Earth, Jupiter, Brown Dwarfs, White Dwarfs, Neutron Stars, Stellar populations, and Exoplanets. We quantify how different objects are...
Indirect dark matter experiments probe dark matter properties by searching for the products or other observables that result from interactions, rather than measuring dark matter directly. Here we consider a two-component dark matter model where observable indirect signals are produced from lightly boosted dark matter particles produced from a more traditional dark matter candidate. In this...
We show that Milky Way white dwarfs are excellent targets for dark matter (DM) detection. Using Fermi and H.E.S.S. Galactic center gamma-ray data, we investigate sensitivity to DM annihilating within white dwarfs into long-lived or boosted mediators and producing detectable gamma rays. Depending on the Galactic DM distribution, we set new constraints on the spin-independent scattering cross...
The presence of asymmetric dark matter (ADM) in neutron star interiors has been shown to affect the global properties of neutron stars, namely their masses and radii. Since the neutron star interior is poorly understood, the most conservative approach to a Bayesian analysis of their interiors is to allow all equation of state (EoS) parameters to vary. In this work, we use synthetic neutron...
We search for indirect signals of O(keV) dark matter annihilating or decaying into O (eV) dark photons. These dark photons will be highly boosted and have decay lengths larger than the Milky Way, and can be absorbed by neutrino or dark matter experiments at a rate dependent on the photon-dark photon kinetic mixing parameter and the optical properties of the experiment. We show that current...
I will present a detailed study of the production of dark matter in the form of a sterile neutrino via freeze-in from decays of heavy right-handed neutrinos. Our treatment accounts for thermal effects in the effective couplings, generated via neutrino mixing, of the new heavy neutrinos with the Standard Model gauge and Higgs bosons and can be applied to several low-energy fermion seesaw...
We present a novel perspective on the role of inflation in the production of Dark Matter (DM). Specifically, we explore the DM production during Warm Inflation via ultraviolet Freeze-In (WIFI). We demonstrate that in a Warm Inflation (WI) setting the persistent thermal bath, sustained by the dissipative interactions with the inflaton field, can source a sizable DM abundance via the...
Most scenarios of Majorana Leptogenesis require on-shell production of heavy Majorana neutrinos, $N$ whose CP-violating decays give rise to a lepton asymmetry. This lepton asymmetry is then converted into the observed baryon asymmetry by sphalerons. In this talk, I will discuss the possibility of simultaneously generating dark and Standard Model lepton asymmetries when the universe reheats to...
In this talk, we look at some consequences of Majorons in the singlet Majoron model. We explore a scenario where the Majoron acts as Dark matter, while simultaneously baryon asymmetry being generated through leptogenesis, and Neutrino masses generated through type I seesaw mechanism. We explore the consequences of Majoron freeze-in production through a relatively unexplored channel of...
For many years, models of weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs) have been a useful target for direct detection experiments and other probes of dark matter. However, increasingly precise experimental probes have severely constrained the viable parameter space for these models. In this talk, I will review a paradigmatic WIMP model, Singlet-Doublet dark matter. I will introduce the...
Understanding the dark matter distribution within a few kpc of the galactic center of the Milky Way is essential in estimating the dark matter content of the galaxy for indirect detection experiments, as well as understanding the particle nature of dark matter through the density profile in the Milky Wayโs core. Although it is difficult to accurately measure the inner stellar distribution in...
Historically, dark matter searches have primarily focused on hunting for effects from two-to-two scattering. However, given that the visible universe is primarily composed of plasmas governed by collective effects, there is great potential to explore similar effects in the dark sector. Recent semi-analytic work has shown that new areas of parameter space for dark U(1) models can be probed...
Observations of stellar populations are biased by extinction from foreground dust. By solving the equilibrium collisionless Boltzmann equation using machine learning techniques, one can estimate the unbiased phase space density of an equilibrated stellar population and the underlying gravitational potential. Using a normalizing flow-based estimate for the phase space density of stars measured...
There is strong evidence for dark matter in a variety of astrophysical observations. A new as yet unknown particle is a leading candidate for dark matter. This talk will review searches for the production of a dark matter particle or potential dark matter mediators in accelerator experiments. Indirect searches in astrophysical annihilation will also be addressed.
A study is performed to look for signals of a strongly coupled dark sector. Many dark matter experiments have searched for weakly interacting particles without success. Hidden valley models with a strongly coupled dark sector can offer an alternative dark matter candidate, and may have evaded previous searches. We consider such a dark-QCD sector with a Standard Model Higgs mediator....
Recent advances in quantum sensors, including atomic clocks, enable searches for a broad range of dark matter candidates. The question of the dark matter distribution in the Solar system critically affects the reach of dark matter direct detection experiments. Partly motivated by the NASA Deep Space Atomic Clock (DSAC), we show that space quantum sensors present new opportunities for...
We study non-composite dark matter as a beyond the Standard Model (BSM) extension under the Higgs Effective Field Theory (HEFT) framework, which describes necessarily non-linearly realised theories perturbed around the ground state after electroweak symmetry breaking (EWSB). We focus on scalar Loryon models that acquire more than half the particle's mass from the Higgs mechanism and found four...
We describe a simple dark sector structure which, if present, has implications for the direct detection of dark matter (DM): the Dark Sink. A Dark Sink transports energy density from the DM into light dark-sector states that do not appreciably contribute to the DM density. As an example, we consider a light, neutral fermion $\psi$ which interacts solely with DM $\chi$ via the exchange of a...
Ultralight spin-1 particles can constitute all of dark matter and leave their signature as a coherent, oscillatory signal in terrestrial quantum detectors. Leveraging advancements in quantum metrology, these sensors are well-poised to measure these signals due to their incredible sensitivity to tiny forces and displacements. However, a statistical frequency-space analysis of this signal...
