showing 13 related works from this author
Gravitino dark matter and neutrino masses with bilinear R-parity violation
2011
Bilinear R-parity violation provides an attractive origin for neutrino masses and mixings. In such schemes the gravitino is a viable decaying dark matter particle whose R-parity violating decays lead to monochromatic photons with rates accessible to astrophysical observations. We determine the parameter region allowed by gamma-ray line searches, dark matter relic abundance and neutrino oscillation data, obtaining a limit on the gravitino mass $m_{\tilde G} \lsim$ 1-10 GeV corresponding to a relatively low reheat temperature $T_R \lsim$ few $\times 10^7-10^8$ GeV. Neutrino mass and mixing parameters may be reconstructed at accelerator experiments like the Large Hadron Collider.
Detecting the stimulated decay of axions at radio frequencies
2018
Assuming axion-like particles account for the entirety of the dark matter in the Universe, we study the possibility of detecting their decay into photons at radio frequencies. We discuss different astrophysical targets, such as dwarf spheroidal galaxies, the Galactic Center and halo, and galaxy clusters. The presence of an ambient radiation field leads to a stimulated enhancement of the decay rate; depending on the environment and the mass of the axion, the effect of stimulated emission may amplify the photon flux by serval orders of magnitude. For axion-photon couplings allowed by astrophysical and laboratory constraints(and possibly favored by stellar cooling), we find the signal to be wi…
Effects of WIMP DM transport in the Sun
2011
We study the effect of dark matter (DM) particles in the Sun, focusing in particular on the possible reduction of the solar neutrinos flux due to the energy carrie d away by DM particles from the innermost regions of the Sun, and to the consequent reduction of the temperature of the solar core. We find that in the very low-mass range between 4 and 10 Ge V, recently advocated to explain the findings of the DAMA and CoGent experiments, the e ffects on neutrino fluxes are detectable only for DM models with very small, or vanishing, self-annihilation cross section, such as the so-called asymmetric DM models, and we study the combination of DM masses and Spin Dependent cross sections which can b…
Possibility of a dark matter interpretation for the excess in isotropic radio emission reported by ARCADE.
2011
The ARCADE 2 Collaboration has recently measured an isotropic radio emission which is significantly brighter than the expected contributions from known extra-galactic sources. The simplest explanation of such excess involves a ``new'' population of unresolved sources which become the most numerous at very low (observationally unreached) brightness. We investigate this scenario in terms of synchrotron radiation induced by weakly interacting massive particle (WIMP) annihilations or decays in extra-galactic halos. Intriguingly, for light-mass WIMPs with a thermal annihilation cross section, the level of expected radio emission matches the ARCADE observations.
Constraints on light asymmetric dark matter from solar neutrinos
2010
We study the effect of dark matter (DM) particles in the Sun, focusing in particular on the possible reduction of the solar neutrinos flux due to the energy carried away by DM particles from the innermost regions of the Sun, and to the consequent reduction of the temperature of the solar core. In the very low-mass range between 4 and 10 GeV, recently advocated to explain the findings of the DAMA and CoGent experiments, the effects on neutrino fluxes are detectable only for DM models with very small, or vanishing, self-annihilation cross section, such as the so-called asymmetric DM models, and we study the combination of DM masses and Spin Dependent cross sections which can be excluded with …
Higgs in space!
2010
We consider the possibility that the Higgs can be produced in dark matter annihilations, appearing as a line in the spectrum of gamma rays at an energy determined by the masses of the WIMP and the Higgs itself. We argue that this phenomenon occurs generally in models in which the the dark sector has large couplings to the most massive states of the SM and provide a simple example inspired by the Randall-Sundrum vision of dark matter, whose 4d dual corresponds to electroweak symmetry-breaking by strong dynamics which respect global symmetries that guarantee a stable WIMP. The dark matter is a Dirac fermion that couples to a Z' acting as a portal to the Standard Model through its strong coupl…
Phenomenology of dark matter from A(4) flavor symmetry
2011
We investigate a model in which Dark Matter is stabilized by means of a Z2 parity that results from the same non-abelian discrete flavor symmetry which accounts for the observed pattern of neutrino mixing. In our A4 example the standard model is extended by three extra Higgs doublets and the Z2 parity emerges as a remnant of the spontaneous breaking of A4 after electroweak symmetry breaking. We perform an analysis of the parameter space of the model consistent with electroweak precision tests, collider searches and perturbativity. We determine the regions compatible with the observed relic dark matter density and we present prospects for detection in direct as well as indirect Dark Matter s…
Effect of low mass dark matter particles on the Sun
2010
We study the effect of dark matter (DM) particles in the Sun, focusing in particular on the possible reduction of the solar neutrinos flux due to the energy carried away by DM particles from the innermost regions of the Sun, and to the consequent reduction of the temperature of the solar core. We find that in the very low-mass range between 4 and 10 GeV, recently advocated to explain the findings of the DAMA and CoGent experiments, the effects on neutrino fluxes are detectable only for DM models with very small, or vanishing, self-annihilation cross section, such as the so-called asymmetric DM models, and we study the combination of DM masses and Spin Dependent cross sections which can be e…
Cosmological radio emission induced by WIMP Dark Matter
2011
We present a detailed analysis of the radio synchrotron emission induced by WIMP dark matter annihilations and decays in extragalactic halos. We compute intensity, angular correlation, and source counts and discuss the impact on the expected signals of dark matter clustering, as well as of other astrophysical uncertainties as magnetic fields and spatial diffusion. Bounds on dark matter microscopic properties are then derived, and, depending on the specific set of assumptions, they are competitive with constraints from other indirect dark matter searches. At GHz frequencies, dark matter sources can become a significant fraction of the total number of sources with brightness below the microJa…
Connecting neutrino physics with dark matter
2014
The origin of neutrino masses and the nature of dark matter are two of the most pressing open questions of the modern astro-particle physics. We consider here the possibility that these two problems are related, and review some theoretical scenarios which offer common solutions. A simple possibility is that the dark matter particle emerges in minimal realizations of the see-saw mechanism, like in the majoron and sterile neutrino scenarios. We present the theoretical motivation for both models and discuss their phenomenology, confronting the predictions of these scenarios with cosmological and astrophysical observations. Finally, we discuss the possibility that the stability of dark matter o…
Dark matter synchrotron emission and radio observations
2012
We compute the synchrotron emission induced by electrons produced by DM annihilations inside our galaxy. The signal is compared with observations in a large range of frequencies, from 22 MHz up to 1420 MHz. We set constraints on the DM mass and annihilation cross-section and highlight the impact of astrophysical uncertainties.
Galactic synchrotron emission from WIMPs at radio frequencies
2011
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, and masses M_DM < 10 GeV. We discuss the dependence of these bounds on the astrophysical assumptions, namely galactic dark matter distribu…
Main Sequence Stars with Asymmetric Dark Matter
2012
We study the effects of feebly or non-annihilating weakly interacting Dark Matter (DM) particles on stars that live in DM environments denser than that of our Sun. We find that the energy transport mechanism induced by DM particles can produce unusual conditions in the core of Main Sequence stars, with effects which can potentially be used to probe DM properties. We find that solar mass stars placed in DM densities of rhochi>= e2 GeV/cm3 are sensitive to Spin-Dependent scattering cross-section sigmsd >= e-37 cm2 and a DM particle mass as low as mchi=5 GeV, accessing a parameter range weakly constrained by current direct detection experiments.