Engineering Papers⌕ Search

SEARCH · Engineering Papers

Results for “models for dark matter”

Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 181 records · Page 10
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2020

Renormalization group effects in dark matter interactions

We present a renormalization-group (RG) analysis of dark matter interactions with the standard model, where dark matter is allowed to be a component of an electroweak multiplet, and has a mass at or below the electroweak scale. We consider, in addition to the gauge interactions, the complete set of effective operators for dark matter interactions with the standard model above the weak scale, up to and including mass dimension six. We calculate the RG evolution of these operators from the high scale Λ down to the weak scale, and perform the matching to the tower of effective theories below the weak scale. We also summarize the RG evolution below the weak scale and the matching to the nonrelativistic nuclear interactions. We present several numerical examples and show that in certain cases the dark matter — nucleus scattering rate can change by orders of magnitude when the electroweak running is included.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2022

Linear sigma dark matter

We present a model of self-interacting dark matter based on QCD-like theories and inspired by the proximity of a 0 (980 ± 20) to the $K\bar{K}$ (990) threshold. Dark matter is comprised of dark pions which self-scatter via the σ resonance close to the ππ threshold. While the linear sigma model serves as a qualitative guide, a fully unitary description of the scattering in the strongly coupled regime is given by effective range theory. The introduction of a kinetically mixed dark photon allows the dark pion to either freeze-out or -in. We study the viable parameter space which explains the observed relic abundance while evading all current constraints. Searches for dark matter self interactions at different scales, (in)direct detection signals, and (in)visibly-decaying dark photons will test this model in the near future.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2022

Mitigating foreground bias to the CMB lensing power spectrum for a CMB-HD survey

A promising way to measure the distribution of matter on small scales (k~10 h Mpc –1 ) is to use gravitational lensing of the cosmic microwave background (CMB). CMB-HD, a proposed high-resolution, low-noise millimeter survey over half the sky, can measure the CMB lensing auto spectrum on such small scales enabling measurements that can distinguish between a cold dark matter (CDM) model and alternative models designed to solve problems with CDM on small scales. However, extragalactic foregrounds can bias the CMB lensing auto spectrum if left untreated. Here, we present a foreground mitigation strategy that provides a path to reduce the bias from two of the most dominant foregrounds, the thermal Sunyaev-Zel’dovich effect and the cosmic infrared background. Given the level of realism included in our analysis, we find that the thermal Sunyaev-Zel’dovich alone and the cosmic infrared background alone bias the lensing auto spectrum by 0.6σ and 1.1σ, respectively, in the lensing multipole range of Lϵ[5000,20000] for a CMB-HD survey; combined these foregrounds yield a bias of only 1.3σ. Including these foregrounds, we also find that a CMB-HD survey can distinguish between a CDM model and a 10 –22 eV fuzzy dark matter model at the 5σ level. These results provide an important step in demonstrating that foreground contamination can be sufficiently reduced to enable a robust measurement of the small-scale matter power spectrum with CMB-HD.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2025

The GD-1 Stellar Stream Perturber as a Core-collapsed Self-interacting Dark Matter Halo

The GD-1 stellar stream exhibits spur and gap structures that may result from a close encounter with a dense substructure. When interpreted as a dark matter subhalo, the perturber is denser than predicted in the standard cold dark matter (CDM) model. In self-interacting dark matter (SIDM), however, a halo could evolve into a phase of gravothermal collapse, resulting in a higher central density than its CDM counterpart. We conduct high-resolution controlled N-body simulations to show that a collapsed SIDM halo could account for the GD-1 perturber's high density. We model a progenitor halo with a mass of 3 × 10 8 M ⊙ , motivated by a cosmological simulation of a Milky Way analog, and evolve it in the Milky Way's tidal field. For a cross section per mass of σ/m ≈ 30–100 cm 2 g −1 at ${V}_{{\rm{\max }}}\unicode{x0007E}10\,{\rm{km}}\,{{\rm{s}}}^{-1}$, the enclosed mass of the SIDM halo within the inner 10 pc can be increased by more than 1 order of magnitude compared to its CDM counterpart, leading to a good agreement with the properties of the GD-1 perturber. Our findings indicate that stellar streams provide a novel probe into the self-interacting nature of dark matter.

dark matter↗
DOE OSTI2024

An attractive model: simulating fuzzy dark matter with attractive self-interactions

ABSTRACT Fuzzy dark matter (FDM), comprised of ultralight ($m \sim 10^{-22}\,{\rm eV}$) boson particles, has received significant attention as a viable alternative to cold dark matter (CDM), as it approximates CDM on large scales (${\gtrsim}1$ Mpc) while potentially resolving some of its small-scale problems via kiloparsec-scale quantum interference. However, the most basic FDM model, with one free parameter (the boson mass), is subject to a tension: small boson masses yield the desired cores of dwarf galaxies but underpredict structure in the Lyman-α forest, while large boson masses render FDM effectively identical to CDM. This Catch-22 problem may be alleviated by considering an axion-like particle with attractive particle self-interactions. We simulate an idealized FDM halo with self-interactions parametrized by an energy decay constant $f \sim 10^{15}~\rm {GeV}$ related to the axion symmetry-breaking conjectured to solve the strong-CP problem in particle physics. We observe solitons, a hallmark of FDM, condensing within a broader halo envelope, and find that the density profile and soliton mass depend on self-interaction strength. We propose generalized formulae to extend those from previous works to include self-interactions. We also investigate a critical mass threshold predicted for strong interactions at which the soliton collapses into a compact, unresolved state. We find that the collapse happens quickly, and its effects are initially contained to the central region of the halo.

Painter, Connor A. (ORCID:0000000235314806)↗
DOE OSTI2026

Search for GeV-scale dark matter from the Galactic Center with IceCube-DeepCore

Models describing dark matter as a novel particle often predict that its annihilation or decay into Standard Model particles could produce a detectable neutrino flux in regions of high dark matter density, such as the Galactic Center. In this work, we search for these neutrinos using ∼9 years of IceCube-DeepCore data with an event selection optimized for energies between 15 to 200 GeV. We considered several annihilation and decay channels and dark matter masses ranging from 15 GeV up to 8 TeV. No significant deviation from the background expectation from atmospheric neutrinos and muons was found. The most significant result was found for a dark matter mass of 201.6 GeV annihilating into a pair of bb¯ quarks assuming the Navarro–Frenk–White halo profile with a post-trial significance of 1.08σ. We present upper limits on the thermally averaged annihilation cross section of the order of 10-24 cm3 s-1, as well as lower limits on the dark matter decay lifetime up to 1026 s for dark matter masses between 5 GeV up to 8 TeV. These results strengthen the current IceCube limits on dark matter masses above 20 GeV and provide an order of magnitude improvement at lower masses. In addition, they represent the strongest constraints from any neutrino telescope on GeV-scale dark matter and are among the world-leading limits for several dark matter scenarios.

Abbasi, R↗
DOE OSTI2021

Dark moments for the Standard Model?

If dark matter (DM) interacts with the Standard Model (SM) via the kinetic mixing (KM) portal, it necessitates the existence of portal matter (PM) particles which carry both dark and SM quantum numbers that will appear in vacuum polarization-like loop graphs. In addition to the familiar ~ eϵQ strength, QED-like interaction for the dark photon (DP), in some setups different loop graphs of these PM states can also induce other coupling structures for the SM fermions that may come to dominate in at least some regions of parameter space regions and which can take the form of ‘dark’ moments, e.g., magnetic dipole-type interactions in the IR, associated with a large mass scale, Λ. In this paper, motivated by a simple toy model, we perform a phenomenological investigation of a possible loop-induced dark magnetic dipole moment for SM fermions, in particular, for the electron. We show that at the phenomenological level such a scenario can not only be made compatible with existing experimental constraints for a significant range of correlated values for Λ and the dark U(1) D gauge coupling, g D , but can also lead to quantitatively different signatures once the DP is discovered. In this setup, assuming complex scalar DM to satisfy CMB constraints, parameter space regions where the DP decays invisibly are found to be somewhat preferred if PM mass limits from direct searches at the LHC and our toy model setup are all taken seriously. High precision searches for, or measurements of, the e + e - → γ + DP process at Belle II are shown to provide some of the strongest future constraints on this scenario.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗
DOE OSTI2023

A differentiable model of the evolution of dark matter halo concentration

ABSTRACT We introduce a new model of the evolution of the concentration of dark matter haloes, c(t). For individual haloes, our model approximates c(t) as a power law with a time-dependent index, such that at early times, concentration has a nearly constant value of c ≈ 3–4, and as cosmic time progresses, c(t) smoothly increases. Using large samples of halo merger trees taken from the Bolshoi–Planck and MultiDark Planck 2 cosmological simulations, we demonstrate that our three-parameter model can approximate the evolution of the concentration of individual haloes with a typical accuracy of 0.1 dex for $t\gtrsim 2\, {\rm Gyr}$ for all Bolshoi–Planck and MultiDark Planck 2 haloes of present-day peak mass $M_{0}\gtrsim 10^{11.5}\, {\rm M}_{\odot }$. We additionally present a new model of the evolution of the concentration of halo populations, which we show faithfully reproduces both average concentration growth and the diversity of smooth trajectories of c(t), including capturing correlations with halo mass and halo assembly history. Our publicly available source code, diffprof, can be used to generate Monte Carlo realizations of the concentration histories of cosmologically representative halo populations. diffprof is differentiable due to its implementation in the jax autodiff library, which facilitates the incorporation of our model into existing analytical halo model frameworks.

Stevanovich, Dash↗
NASA NTRS1994

Bias and high-order galaxy correlation functions in the APM galaxy survey

On large scales, the higher order moments of the mass distribution, S(sub J) = bar-zeta(sub J)/bar-zeta(sup J-1)(sub 2), e.g., the skewness S(sub 3) and kurtosis S(sub 4), can be predicted using nonlinear perturbation theory. Comparison of these predictions with moments of the observed galaxy distribution probes the bias between galaxies and mass. Applying this method to models with initially Gaussian fluctuations and power spectra P(k) similar to that of galaxies in the Automatic Plate Measuring (APM) survey, we find that the predicted higher order moments S(sub J)(R) are in good agreement with those directly inferred from the APM survey in the absence of bias. We use this result to place limits on the linear and nonlinear bias parameters. Models in which the extra power observed on large scales (with respect to the standard cold dark matter (CDM) model) is produced by scale-dependent bias match the APM higher order amplitudes only if nonlinear bias (rather than nonlinear gravity) generates the observed higher order moments. When normalized to Cosmic Background Explorer Differential Microwave Radiometer (COBE DMR), these models are siginificantly ruled out by the S(sub 3) observations. The cold plus hot dark matter model normalized to COBE can reproduce the APM higher order correlations if one introduces nonlinear bias terms, while the low-density CDM model with a cosmological constant does not require any bias to fit the large-scale amplitudes.

Gaztanaga, Enrique↗
DOE OSTI2022

Distinctive signals of frustrated dark matter

We study a renormalizable model of Dirac fermion dark matter (DM) that communicates with the Standard Model (SM) through a pair of mediators — one scalar, one fermion — in the representation (6, 1, $\frac{4}{3}$) of the SM gauge group SU(3) c x SU(2) L x U(1) Y . While such assignments preclude direct coupling of the dark matter to the Standard Model at tree level, we examine the many effective operators generated at one-loop order when the mediators are heavy, and find that they are often phenomenologically relevant. We reinterpret dijet and pair-produced resonance and jets + E$^{miss}_{T}$ searches at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) in order to constrain the mediator sector, and we examine an array of DM constraints ranging from the observed relic density Ω χ h$^{2}_{Planck}$ to indirect and direct searches for dark matter. Tree-level annihilation, available for DM masses starting at the TeV scale, is required in order to produce Ω χ h$^{2}_{Planck}$ through freeze-out, but loops — led by the dimension-five DM magnetic dipole moment — are nonetheless able to produce signals large enough to be constrained, particularly by the XENON1T experiment. In some benchmarks, we find a fair amount of parameter space left open by experiment and compatible with freeze-out. In other scenarios, however, the open space is quite small, suggesting a need for further model-building and/or non-standard cosmologies.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗
DOE OSTI2025

Testing the parametric model for self-interacting dark matter using matched halos in cosmological simulations

Here, we systemically evaluate the performance of the self-interacting dark matter (SIDM) halo model proposed in Ref.Yang et al. (2023) with matched halos from high-resolution cosmological CDM and SIDM simulations. The model incorporates SIDM effects along mass evolution histories of CDM halos and it is applicable to both isolated halos and subhalos. We focus on the accuracy of the model in predicting halo density profiles at z = 0 and the evolution of maximum circular velocity. We find the model predictions agree with the simulations within 10%–50% for most of the simulated (sub)halos, 50%–100% for extreme cases. This indicates that the model effectively captures the gravothermal evolution of the halos with very strong, velocity-dependent self-interactions. For an example application, we apply the model to study the impact of various SIDM scenarios on strong lensing perturber systems, demonstrating its utility in predicting SIDM effects for small-scale structure analyses. Our findings confirm that the model is an effective tool for mapping CDM halos into their SIDM counterparts.

Yang, Daneng [Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing↗
DOE OSTI2025

Dark matter substructure or source model systematics? A case study of cluster lens Abell S1063

Mapping the small-scale structure of the universe through gravitational lensing is a promising tool for probing the particle nature of dark matter. Curved Arc Basis (CAB) has been proposed as a local lensing formalism in galaxy clusters, with the potential to detect low-mass dark matter substructure. In this work, we analyse the cluster lens Abell S1063 in search of dark matter substructure with the CAB formalism, using multiband imaging data from James Webb Space Telescope ( JWST ). We use two different source modelling methods: shapelets and pixel-based source reconstruction based on Delaunay triangulation. We find that source modelling systematics from shapelets result in a disagreement between CAB parameters measured from different filters. Source modelling with Delaunay significantly alleviates this systematic, as seen in the improvement in agreement across filters. We also find that inadequate complexity in source modelling can result in convincing spurious detections of dark matter substructure from strong gravitational lenses, as seen by our $\Delta \text{BIC} > 20$ measurement of a $M \sim 10^{10}$ ${\rm M}_{\odot }$ subhalo with shapelets, a spurious detection that is not reproduced with Delaunay source modelling. We demonstrate that multiband analysis with different JWST filters is key for disentangling source and lens model systematics from dark matter substructure detections.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2022

Fuzzy dark matter and the Dark Energy Survey Year 1 data

ABSTRACT Gravitational weak lensing by dark matter haloes leads to a measurable imprint in the shear correlation function of galaxies. Fuzzy dark matter (FDM), composed of ultralight axion-like particles of mass m ∼ 10−22 eV, suppresses the matter power spectrum and shear correlation with respect to standard cold dark matter. We model the effect of FDM on cosmic shear using the optimized halo model HMCode, accounting for additional suppression of the mass function and halo concentration in FDM as observed in N-body simulations. We combine Dark Energy Survey Year 1 (DES-Y1) data with the Planck cosmic microwave background anisotropies to search for shear correlation suppression caused by FDM. We find no evidence of suppression compared to the preferred cold dark matter model, and thus set a new lower limit to the FDM particle mass. Using a log-flat prior and marginalizing over uncertainties related to the non-linear model of FDM, we find a new, independent 95 per cent C.L. lower limit log10m > −23 combining Planck and DES-Y1 shear, an improvement of almost two orders of magnitude on the mass bound relative to CMB-only constraints. Our analysis is largely independent of baryonic modelling, and of previous limits to FDM covering this mass range. Our analysis highlights the most important aspects of the FDM non-linear model for future investigation. The limit to FDM from weak lensing could be improved by up to three orders of magnitude with $\mathcal {O}(0.1)$ arcmin cosmic shear angular resolution, if FDM and baryonic feedback can be simultaneously modelled to high precision in the halo model.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗
DOE OSTI2025

SASHIMI-SIDM: semi-analytical subhalo modelling for self-interacting dark matter at sub-galactic scales

We combine the semi-analytical structure formation model, SASHIMI, which predicts subhalo populations in collisionless, cold dark matter (CDM), with a parametric model that maps CDM halos to self-interacting dark matter (SIDM) halos. The resulting model, SASHIMI-SIDM, generates SIDM subhalo populations down to sub-galactic mass scales, for an arbitrary input cross section, in minutes. We show that SASHIMI-SIDM agrees with SIDM subhalo populations from high-resolution cosmological zoom-in simulations in resolved regimes. Crucially, we predict that the fraction of core-collapsed subhalos peaks at a mass scale determined by the input SIDM cross section and decreases toward higher halo masses, consistent with the predictions of gravothermal models and cosmological simulations. For the first time, we also show that the core-collapsed fraction decreases toward lower halo masses. While the dependence of the collapse time on mass and concentration implies such behaviour, our semi-analytical approach allows us to quantify and illustrate this trend clearly across the full mass spectrum of subhalos, including for subhalo masses below the resolution limit of any current cosmological SIDM simulation. As a proof of principle, we apply SASHIMI-SIDM to predict the boost to the local dark matter density and annihilation rate from core-collapsed SIDM subhalos, which can be enhanced relative to CDM by an order of magnitude for viable SIDM models. Thus, SASHIMI-SIDM provides an efficient and reliable tool for scanning SIDM parameter space and testing it with astrophysical observations. The code is publicly available at https://github.com/shinichiroando/sashimi-si.

cosmological simulations↗
DOE OSTI2024

Standard model Higgs inflation supplemented by minimal dark matter

Renormalization group analysis with the present measurements of the top quark mass m t = 172.69 ± 0.30 GeV [1] indicates that the Standard Model (SM) Higgs potential becomes unstable at energy scales ∼ 10 10 GeV . This may be interpreted as hinting at new particles at high energy. The minimal extension of the SM that can avoid this instability while leaving the SM Higgs as the sole scalar particle of the theory is obtained by adding suitable fermions to the SM. These fermions are good dark matter candidates and the model is known as the minimal dark matter model. We revisit the inflationary scenario based on the minimal dark matter model, taking into account updated parameter constraints and recent understanding of reheating dynamics. We explore the model with different values of the right-handed neutrino mass and find that the cosmological prediction is insensitive to such details. We obtained a spectral index of the cosmic microwave background n s = 0.9672 and a tensor-to-scalar ratio r = 0.0031 as a robust prediction of this scenario. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

Astronomy & Astrophysics↗
DOE OSTI2023

Constraining light thermal inelastic dark matter with NA64

A vector portal between the Standard Model and the dark sector is a predictive and compelling framework for thermal dark matter. Through co-annihilations, models of inelastic dark matter (iDM) and inelastic Dirac dark matter (i2DM) can reproduce the observed relic density in the MeV to GeV mass range without violating cosmological limits. In these scenarios, the vector mediator behaves like a semi-visible particle, evading traditional bounds on visible or invisible resonances, and uncovering new parameter space to explain the muon (g–2) anomaly. By means of a more inclusive signal definition at the NA64 experiment, we place new constraints on iDM and i2DM using a missing energy technique. With a recast-based analysis, we contextualize the NA64 exclusion limits in parameter space and estimate the reach of the newly collected and expected future NA64 data. Our results motivate the development of an optimized search program for semi-visible particles, in which fixed-target experiments like NA64 provide a powerful probe in the sub-GeV mass range.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗