We confront the signals expected from unstable gravitino dark matter with observations of indirect dark matter detection experiments in all possible cosmic-ray channels. For this purpose we calculate in detail the gravitino decay widths in theories with bilinear violation of R parity, particularly focusing on decay channels with three particles in the final state. Based on these calculations we predict the fluxes of gamma rays, charged cosmic rays and neutrinos expected from decays of gravitino dark matter. Although the predicted spectra could in principal explain the anomalies observed in the cosmic-ray positron and electron fluxes as measured by PAMELA and Fermi LAT, we find that this possibility is ruled out by strong constraints from gamma-ray and antiproton observations.
Therefore, we employ current data of indirect detection experiments to place strong constraints on the gravitino lifetime and the strength of R-parity violation. In addition, we discuss the prospects of forthcoming searches for a gravitino signal in the spectrum of cosmic-ray antideuterons, finding that they are in particular sensitive to rather low gravitino masses. Finally, we discuss in detail the prospects for detecting a neutrino signal from gravitino dark matter decays, finding that the sensitivity of neutrino telescopes like IceCube is competitive to observations in other cosmic ray channels, especially for rather heavy gravitinos.
Moreover, we discuss the prospects for a direct detection of gravitino dark matter via R-parity violating inelastic scatterings off nucleons. We find that, although the scattering cross section is considerably enhanced compared to the case of elastic gravitino scattering, the expected signal is many orders of magnitude too small in order to hope for a detection in underground detectors.
The gravitino in models with a small violation of R-parity is a well-motivated decaying dark matter candidate that leads to a cosmological scenario that is consistent with big bang nucleosynthesis and thermal leptogenesis. The gravitino lifetime is cosmologically long-lived since its decays are suppressed by the Planck-scale as well as the small R-parity violating parameter. We discuss the signals in different cosmic-ray species coming from the decay of gravitino dark matter, namely gamma rays, positrons, antiprotons, antideuterons and neutrinos. Comparison to cosmic-ray data can be used to co…
It was recently pointed out that in supersymmetric scenarios with gravitino dark matter and bilinear R-parity violation, gravitinos with masses below Mw typically decay with a sizable branching ratio into the 3-body final states W^*+lepton and Z^*+neutrino. In this paper we study the indirect detection signatures of gravitino dark matter including such final states. First, we obtain the gamma ray spectrum from gravitino decays, which features a monochromatic contribution from the decay into photon+neutrino and a continuum contribution from the three-body decays. After studying its dependence o…
Supersymmetric models provide very interesting scenarios to account for the dark matter of the Universe. In this talk we discuss scenarios with gravitino dark matter in R-parity breaking vacua, which not only reproduce very naturally the observed dark matter relic density, but also lead to a thermal history of the Universe consistent with the observed abundances of primordial elements and the observed matter-antimatter asymmetry. In this class of scenarios the dark matter gravitinos are no longer stable, but decay with very long lifetimes into Standard Model particles, thus opening the possibi…
We consider the three-body decays of gravitino dark matter in supersymmetric scenarios with bilinear R-parity violation. In particular, gravitino decays into lepton+W^* (lepton f\bar f') and ν+Z^* (νf\bar f) are examined for gravitino masses below Mw. After computing the gravitino decay rates into these three-body final states and studying their dependence on supersymmetric parameters, we find that these new decay modes are often more important than the two-body decay, into a photon and a neutrino, considered in previous works. Consequently, the gravitino lifetime and its branching ratios are …
The munuSSM is a supersymmetric model that has been proposed to solve the problems generated by other supersymmetric extensions of the standard model of particle physics. Given that R-parity is broken in the munuSSM, the gravitino is a natural candidate for decaying dark matter since its lifetime becomes much longer than the age of the Universe. In this model, gravitino dark matter could be detectable through the emission of a monochromatic gamma ray in a two-body decay. We study the prospects of the Fermi-LAT telescope to detect such monochromatic lines in 5 years of observations of the most …
The gravitino is a promising supersymmetric dark matter candidate, even without strict R-parity conservation. In fact, with some small R-parity violation, gravitinos are sufficiently long-lived to constitute the dark matter of the universe, while the resulting cosmological scenario is consistent with primordial nucleosynthesis and the high reheating temperature needed for thermal leptogenesis. Furthermore, in this scenario the gravitino is unstable and might thus be accessible by indirect detection via its decay products. We compute in this thesis the partial decay widths for the gravitino in …
We review the case of gravitino Dark Matter for stop, neutralino and sneutrino Next-to-Lightest Supersymmetric Particles and discuss prospects to investigate such scenarios at LHC and a Linear Collider.
If the scalar tau $\stau$ is the next lightest supersymmetric particle and decays into a gravitino ($\gravitino$) being the lightest supersymmetric particle, it will have generally a very long lifetime. In this paper, we investigate the possibility to study the decay of such a long lived scalar tau at the LHC. If we can add to the present LHC experiments additional detectors which are able to stop the stau particles and measure the produced decay products, the decay characteristics can be studied precisely at the LHC. We identify a maximum "stopper detector" that could be added in the CMS cave…
We consider the phenomenological implications of gravitino dark matter in the context of the $μν$SSM. The latter is an R-parity breaking model which provides a solution to the $μ$-problem of the MSSM and explains the origin of neutrino masses by simply using right-handed neutrino superfields. In particular, we analyze the prospects for detecting gamma rays from decaying gravitinos. Gravitino masses larger than 20 GeV are disfavored by the isotropic diffuse photon background measurements, but a gravitino with a mass range between $0.1 - 20$ GeV gives rise to a signal that might easily be observ…
The $μν$SSM provides a solution to the $μ$-problem of the MSSM and explains the origin of neutrino masses by simply using right-handed neutrino superfields. Given that R-parity is broken in this model, the gravitino is a natural candidate for dark matter since its lifetime becomes much longer than the age of the Universe. We consider the implications of gravitino dark matter in the $μν$SSM, analyzing in particular the prospects for detecting gamma rays from decaying gravitinos. If the gravitino explains the whole dark matter component, a gravitino mass larger than 20 GeV is disfavored by the i…
A Bose-Einstein condensate of the hexaquark particle known as d$^*$(2380) has been recently proposed as a dark matter candidate by the authors in Bashkanov \& Watts 2020. This particle can produced in an abundant condensate state in the early universe and is argued to satisfy all the stability and weak interaction constraints of a viable dark matter candidate. This dark matter candidate is able to evade direct detection bounds and is suggested to have the best observational prospects in the form of indirect astrophysical emissions due to the decay of the d$^*$ condensate. In this work we test …
We motivate Higgsino dark matter from a solution to the cosmological moduli/gravitino problem. Cosmological moduli/gravitino should be heavy enough to decay before the onset of Big Bang Nucleosynthesis, and this requirement typically forces gauginos to have masses above a TeV in Type IIB compactifications. Higgsinos emerge as the viable sub-TeV dark matter candidates if anomaly and modulus mediated contributions to supersymmetry breaking are both competitive. Obtaining the correct relic density in this mass range forces Higgsinos to be produced non-thermally from the decay of a modulus. We out…
The existence of dark matter provides strong evidence for physics beyond the Standard Model. Extending the Standard Model with the Peccei-Quinn symmetry and/or supersymmetry, compelling dark matter candidates appear. For the axion, the neutralino, the gravitino, and the axino, I review primordial production mechanisms, cosmological and astrophysical constraints, experimental searches, and prospects for experimental identification.
Successful implementation of thermal leptogenesis requires re-heat temperatures T_R\agt 2\times 10^9 GeV, in apparent conflict with SUSY models with TeV-scale gravitinos, which require much lower T_R in order to avoid Big Bang Nucleosynthesis (BBN) constraints. We show that mixed axion/axino dark matter can reconcile thermal leptogenesis with the gravitino problem in models with m_{\tG}\agt 30 TeV, a rather high Peccei-Quinn breaking scale and an initial mis-alignment angle θ_i < 1. We calculate axion and axino dark matter production from four sources, and impose BBN constraints on long-lived …
Electroweak precision measurements can provide indirect information about the possible scale of supersymmetry already at the present level of accuracy. We review present day sensitivities of precision data in mSUGRA-type models with the gravitino as the lightest supersymmetric particle (LSP). The chi^2 fit is based on M_W, sin^2 theta_eff, (g-2)_mu, BR(b -> s gamma) and the lightest MSSM Higgs boson mass, M_h. We find indications for relatively light soft supersymmetry-breaking masses, offering good prospects for the LHC and the ILC, and in some cases also for the Tevatron.
In supersymmetric extensions of the Standard Model, the lightest neutralino, the gravitino, and the axino can appear as the lightest supersymmetric particle and as such provide a compelling explanation of the non-baryonic dark matter in our Universe. For each of these dark matter candidates, I review the present status of primordial production mechanisms, cosmological constraints, and prospects of experimental identification.
The scenario of gravitino dark matter with broken R-parity naturally reconciles three paradigms that, albeit very well motivated separately, seem to be in mutual conflict: supersymmetric dark matter, thermal leptogenesis and standard Big Bang nucleosynthesis. Interestingly enough, the products of the gravitino decay could be observed, opening the possibility of indirect detection of gravitino dark matter. In this paper, we compute the positron and the antiproton fluxes from gravitino decay. We find that a gravitino with a mass of 150 GeV and a lifetime of 10^26 s could simultaneously explain t…
We study observational consequences arising from dark matter (DM) of non-thermal origin, produced by dark freeze-out from a hidden sector heat bath. We assume this heat bath was populated by feebly-coupled mediator particles, produced via a Higgs portal interaction with the Standard Model (SM). The dark sector then attained internal equilibrium with a characteristic temperature different from the SM photon temperature. We find that even if the coupling between the DM and the SM sectors is very weak, the scenario allows for indirect observational signals. We show how the expected strength of th…
We investigate the prospects of indirect and direct dark matter searches within the minimal supersymmetric standard model with nine parameters (MSSM-9). These nine parameters include three gaugino masses, Higgs, slepton and squark masses, all treated independently. We perform a Bayesian Monte Carlo scan of the parameter space taking into consideration all available particle physics constraints such as the Higgs mass of 126 GeV, upper limits on the scattering cross-section from direct-detection experiments, and assuming that the MSSM-9 provides all the dark matter abundance through thermal free…
A successful implementation of thermal leptogenesis requires the re-heat temperature after inflation T_R to exceed ~2\times 10^9 GeV. Such a high T_R value typically leads to an overproduction of gravitinos in the early universe, which will cause conflicts, mainly with BBN constraints. Asaka and Yanagida (AY) have proposed that these two issues can be reconciled in the context of the Peccei-Quinn augmented MSSM (PQMSSM) if one adopts a mass hierarchy m(sparticle)>m(gravitino)>m(axino), with m(axino) keV. We calculate the relic abundance of mixed axion/axino dark matter in the AY scenario, and …
In Split-SUSY with BRpV we show that the Gravitino DM solution is consistent with experimental evidence on its relic density and life time. We arrive at this conclusion by performing a complete numerical and algebraic study of the parameter space, including constraints from the recently determined Higgs mass, updated neutrino physics, and BBN constraints on NLSP decays. The Higgs mass requires a relatively low Split-SUSY mass scale, which is naturally smaller than usual values for reheating temperature, allowing the use of the standard expression for the relic density. We include restrictions …
It is shown that gravitinos with mass m_{3/2} ~ 0.1-1 MeV may provide suitable cold dark matter candidates in scenarios of gauge mediated supersymmetry breaking (GMSB) under SO(10) grand unification coupled to supergravity, which accommodate a messenger sector of mass scale M_X ~ 10^6 GeV. This is due to the combined effects of renormalizable loop-suppressed operators and generic non-renormalizable ones governing the dilution of a pre-existing equilibrium gravitino abundance via messenger decay. The above range of gravitino and messenger masses can be accommodated in indirect GMSB scenarios. T…
The presence of a Higgsino-like neutralino next-to-lightest sparticle (NLSP) and a keV scale gravitino ($\widetilde{G}$) LSP opens up new decay modes of the NLSP, mainly to a Higgs/$Z$ boson and the LSP. Besides, a keV-scale gravitino as a warm dark matter candidate salvages a relatively-light Higgsino-like NLSP from dark matter constraints. We focus on the prospects of observing at least one b jet and two opposite sign leptons with a large missing transverse momenta ($\geq 1 b$ $+$ $ \ell^+\ell^-+\not{\!\!E}_T$) signal at the LHC. A distinguishing feature of this scenario is the production of…
The gravitino is a promising candidate for cold dark matter. We study cosmological constraints on scenarios in which the gravitino is the lightest supersymmetric particle and a charged slepton the next-to-lightest supersymmetric particle (NLSP). We obtain new results for the hadronic nucleosynthesis bounds by computing the 4-body decay of the NLSP slepton into the gravitino, the associated lepton, and a quark-antiquark pair. The bounds from the observed dark matter density are refined by taking into account gravitinos from both late NLSP decays and thermal scattering in the early Universe. We …
High-scale supersymmetry (SUSY) with a split spectrum has become increasingly interesting given the current experimental results. A SUSY scale above the weak scale could be naturally associated with a heavy unstable gravitino, whose decays populate the dark matter (DM) particles. In the mini-split scenario with gravitino at about the PeV scale and the lightest TeV scale neutralino being (a component of) DM, the requirement that the DM relic abundance resulting from gravitino decays does not overclose the Universe and satisfies the indirect detection constraints demand the reheating temperature…
Very light gravitinos could be produced at a sizeable rate at colliders and have been searched for in the mono-photon or mono-jet plus missing momentum signature. Strategies for enhancing the signal over background and interpretations of the experimental results are typically obtained within an effective field theory approach where all SUSY particles except the gravitino are heavy and are not produced resonantly. We extend this approach to a simplified model that includes squarks and gluinos in the TeV range. In such a case, the jet(s)-plus-missing-momentum signature can be generated through t…
We describe a novel way to measure the mass of heavy, long-lived neutral particles that decay to photons using collider experiments. We focus on a Light Neutralino and Gravitino model in a Gauge Mediated Supersymmetry Breaking scenario where the neutralino has a long-lifetime (O(ns)) as it is not excluded by current experiments. To illustrate our method and give sensitivity estimates we use recent CDF results and a production mechanism where sparticles are produced via $ϕ_{i} \rightarrow \widetildeχ^{1}_{0} \widetildeχ^{1}_{0} \rightarrow (γ\widetilde{G})(γ\widetilde{G})$ in which $ϕ_{i}$ indi…
Search for compressed supersymmetry at multi-TeV scale, in the presence of a light gravitino dark matter, can get sizable uplift while looking into the associated fat-jets with missing transverse momenta as a signature of the boson produced in the decay process of much heavier next-to-lightest sparticle. We focus on the hadronic decay of the ensuing Higgs and/or $Z$ boson giving rise to at least two fat-jets and $\slashed{E}_T$ in the final state. We perform a detailed background study adopting a multivariate analysis using a boosted decision tree to provide a robust investigation to explore t…
We discuss the gravitino problem in contest of the Exotic see-saw mechanism for neutrinos and Leptogenesis, UV completed by intersecting D-branes Pati-Salam models. In the Exotic see-saw model, supersymmetry is broken at high scales $M_{SUSY}>10^{9}\, \rm GeV$ and this seems in contradiction with gravitino bounds from inflation and baryogenesis. However, if gravitino is the Lightest Stable Supersymmetric Particle, it will not decay into other SUSY particles, avoiding the gravitino problem and providing a good Cold Dark Matter. Gravitini are Super Heavy Dark Particles and they can be produced b…
Indirect dark matter searches are briefly reviewed. Current experimental data from satellites and Cherenkov telescopes searching for antimatter and gamma rays in galactic and extragalactic regions, are compared with predictions from theoretical models of dark matter. The analysis is focused on WIMPs such as the neutralino and the sneutrino, and a superWIMP such as the gravitino, in several interesting supersymmetric models. In particular, the discussion is carried out in the context of R-parity conserving models such as the MSSM, the NMSSM, and an extended NMSSM, and the R-parity violating mod…
We study the prospects for the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST) to find new dwarf spheroidal galaxies in the Milky Way. Adopting models of Milky-Way halo substructure and phenomenological prescriptions connecting subhalos and satellite galaxies, we obtain surface brightness distributions of $V$-band magnitude that lead us to predict that LSST will discover tens to hundreds of dwarf spheroidal galaxies above its sensitivity. The soon-to-be-discovered dwarfs will be interesting targets for indirect searches of dark matter annihilation yields. We forecast the distribution function of gamma-…
I present a short overview of the latest developments in indirect searches for dark matter using gamma rays, X-rays, charged cosmic rays, micro waves, radio waves, and neutrinos. I briefly outline key past, present, and future experiments and their search strategies. In several searches there are exciting anomalies which could potentially be emerging dark matter signals. I discuss these anomalous signals, and some future prospects to determine their origins.
To elucidate the composition of dark matter (DM) is one of the most important open questions in particle and astroparticle phenomenology. Within the framework of minimal supersymmetric extensions of the standard model of fundamental particles, the `mu-from-nu supersymmetric standard model', $μν$SSM, solves the $μ$-problem and reproduces neutrino data, only adding couplings involving right-handed neutrinos. In this context, the supersymmetric partner of the graviton, known as gravitino, becomes a natural DM candidate. Working in the mentioned model, in this thesis we have analyzed the detection…
We examine a scenario in which the reheating temperature $T_R$ after inflation is so low that it is comparable to, or lower than, the freeze out temperature of ordinary WIMPs. In this case the dark matter relic abundance is reduced, thus relaxing the impact of the usually strong constraint coming from the requirement that the universe does not overclose. We first re-examine the dynamics of freezeout during reheating. Next we apply a Bayesian approach to study the parameter space of the MSSM with ten free parameters, the CMSSM and the singlino-dominated regions of the NMSSM. In each case we fin…
With the growing interest in indirect detection for dark matter signature, the thesis aims to investigate the signal originating from the self-annihilation of dark matter candidates. The methods for targeting the dark matter signal are two-fold, on one hand, we explore the gamma rays resulting from dark matter particles. On the other hand, we focus on complementary radio properties.
We study the prospects of detecting muon events at the upcoming Iron CALorimeter (ICAL) detector to be built at the proposed India-based Neutrino Observatory (INO) facility due to neutrinos arising out of annihilation of Weakly Interactive Massive Particles (WIMP) in the centre of the earth. The atmospheric neutrinos coming from the direction of earth core presents an irreducible background. We consider 50kt $\times$ 10 years of ICAL running and WIMP masses between 10-100 GeV and present 90 \% C.L. exclusion sensitivity limits on $σ_{SI}$ which is the WIMP-nucleon Spin Independent (SI) interac…
A comparison is made between accelerator and direct detection constraints in constrained versions of the minimal supersymmetric standard model. Models considered are based on mSUGRA, where scalar and gaugino masses are unified at the GUT scale. In addition, the mSUGRA relation between the (unified) A and B parameters is assumed, as is the relation between $m_0$ and the gravitino mass. Also considered are models where the latter two conditions are dropped (the CMSSM), and a less constrained version where the Higgs soft masses are not unified at the GUT scale (the NUHM).
We investigate the prospects for indirect detection of right-handed sneutrino dark matter at the IceCube neutrino telescope in a $U(1)_{B-L}$ extension of the MSSM. The capture and annihilation of sneutrinos inside the Sun reach equilibrium, and the flux of produced neutrinos is governed by the sneutrino-proton elastic scattering cross section, which has an upper bound of $8 \times 10^{-9}$ pb from the $Z^{\prime}$ mass limits in the $B-L$ model. Despite the absence of any spin-dependent contribution, the muon event rates predicted by this model can be detected at IceCube since sneutrinos main…
We propose a search for direct production and decay of the lightest supersymmetric Higgs boson to two neutralinos in gauge mediated models at the Fermilab Tevatron. We focus on the final state where each neutralino decays to photon and light gravitino with a lifetime of order O(ns). In the detector this will show up as a photon with a time-delayed signature and missing E_T. We estimate that using the photon timing system at CDF, and the full 10/fb data sample, that the sensitivity can be within a factor of three in some regions of parameter space for direct production of the Higgs.
The annihilation of Weakly Interactive Massive Particles (WIMP) in the centre of the sun could give rise to neutrino fluxes. We study the prospects of searching for these neutrinos at the upcoming Iron CALorimeter (ICAL) detector to be housed at the India-based Neutrino Observatory (INO). We perform ICAL simulations to obtain the detector efficiencies and resolutions in order to simulate muon events in ICAL due to neutrinos coming from annihilation of WIMP in the mass range $m_χ= (3-100)$ GeV. The atmospheric neutrinos pose a major background for these indirect detection studies and can be red…
We review the prospects of detecting supersymmetric dark matter in the framework of the Constrained Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model, and compare indirect with direct detection capabilities.
Indirect detection constraints on gamma rays (both continuum and lines) have set strong constraints on wino dark matter. By combining results from Fermi-LAT and HESS, we show that: light nonthermal wino dark matter is strongly excluded; thermal wino dark matter is allowed only if the Milky Way dark matter distribution has a significant (>~0.4 kpc) core; and for plausible NFW and Einasto distributions the entire range of wino masses from 100 GeV up to 3 TeV can be excluded. The case of light, nonthermal wino dark matter is particularly interesting in scenarios with decaying moduli that reheat t…
We determine the prospects for direct and indirect detection of thermal relic neutralinos in supersymmetric theories with multi-TeV squarks and sleptons. We consider the concrete example of the focus point region of minimal supergravity, but our results are generically valid for all models with decoupled scalars and mixed Bino-Higgsino or Higgsino-like dark matter. We determine the parameter space consistent with a 125 GeV Higgs boson including 3-loop corrections in the calculation of the Higgs mass. These corrections increase m_h by 1-3 GeV, lowering the preferred scalar mass scale and decrea…
We present an overview of supersymmetry searches, both at collider experiments and via searches for dark matter (DM). We focus on three DM possibilities in the SUSY context: the thermally produced neutralino, a mixture of axion and axino, and the gravitino, and compare and contrast signals that may be expected at colliders, in direct detection (DD) experiments searching of DM relics left over from the Big Bang, and indirect detection (ID) experiments designed to detect the products of DM annihilations within the solar interior or galactic halo. Detection of DM particles using multiple strategi…
The self-annihilation of dark matter particles with mass in the MeV range can produce gamma rays via prompt or secondary radiation. The annihilation rate for such light dark matter particles is however tightly constrained by cosmic microwave background (CMB) data. Here we explore the possibility of discovering MeV dark matter annihilation with future MeV gamma-ray telescopes taking into account the latest and future CMB constraints. We study the optimal energy window as a function of the dominant annihilation final state. We consider both the (conservative) case of the dwarf spheroidal galaxy …
We investigate the prospects of indirect searches for supersymmetric neutralino dark matter. Relic neutralinos gravitationally accumulate in the Sun and their annihilations produce high energy neutrinos. Muon neutrinos of this origin can be seen in large detectors like AMANDA, IceCube and ANTARES. We evaluate the relic density and the detection rate in several models---the minimal supersymmetric model, minimal supergravity, and supergravity with non-universal Higgs boson masses at the grand unification scale. We make realistic estimates for the indirect detection rates including effects of the…
We present an analysis of the Dark S3 model in the heavy DM mass region, this model features an S3 symmetric extension of the scalar sector of the SM including a scalar $SU(2)$ doublet dark matter candidate. We use publicly available tools to compute, in addition to conventional physical constraints on the parameter space of the model, the Sommerfeld enhancement factors for the present day annihilation cross section and the likelihood profile for a simulation of an observation run by the Cherenkov Telescope Array of the Coma Berenices dwarf galaxy. Our results disfavour masses above $\sim$5 Te…
Dark matter candidates arising in models of particle physics incorporating weak scale supersymmetry may produce detectable signals through their annihilation into neutrinos, photons, or positrons. A large number of relevant experiments are planned or underway. The `logically possible' parameter space is unwieldy. By working in the framework of minimal supergravity, we can survey the implications of the experiments for each other, as well as for direct searches, collider searches, low-energy experiments, and naturalness in a transparent fashion. We find that a wide variety of experiments provid…
We study the possible signals at LHC of the minimal models of decaying dark matter. Those models are characterized by the fact that DM interacts with SM particles through renormalizable coupling with an additional heavier charged state. Such interaction allows to produce a substantial abundance of DM in the early Universe via the decay of the charged heavy state, either in- or out-of-equilibrium. Moreover additional couplings of the charged particle open up decay channels for the DM, which can nevertheless be sufficiently long-lived to be a good DM candidate and within reach of future Indirect…
We present the signatures and prospects for the indirect detection of a Dirac right-handed neutrino dark matter candidate in neutrino telescopes, cosmic positron experiments and gamma-ray telescopes. An example of such a dark matter candidate can be found in extra-dimensional models. In some constructions, Kaluza--Klein states with the gauge quantum numbers of a right-handed neutrino can have sizable gauge interactions with Standard Model particles. For instance, in 5D warped Grand Unified Theories, it has been shown that a Kaluza--Klein right-handed neutrino may be stable and otherwise a phen…
Monochromatic photons could be produced in the annihilation or decay of dark matter particles. At high energies, the search for such line features in the cosmic gamma-ray spectrum is essentially background free because plausible astrophysical processes are not expected to produce such a signal. The observation of a gamma-ray line would hence be a `smoking-gun' signature for dark matter, making the search for such signals particularly attractive. Among the different dark matter models predicting gamma-ray lines, the local supersymmetric extension of the standard model with small R-parity violat…
If the lightest observable-sector supersymmetric particle (LOSP) is charged and long-lived, then it may be possible to indirectly measure the Planck mass at the LHC and provide a spectacular confirmation of supergravity as a symmetry of nature. Unfortunately, this proposal is only feasible if the gravitino is heavy enough to be measured at colliders, and this condition is in direct conflict with constraints from big bang nucleosynthesis (BBN). In this work, we show that the BBN bound can be naturally evaded in the presence of multiple sectors which independently break supersymmetry, since ther…
In the framework of the Constrained MSSM we derive the most probable ranges of the diffuse gamma radiation flux from the direction of the Galactic center and of the positron flux from the Galactic halo due to neutralino dark matter annihilation. We find that, for a given halo model, and assuming flat priors, the 68% probability range of the integrated gamma-ray flux spans about one order of magnitude, while the 95% probability range can be much larger and extend over four orders of magnitude (even exceeding five for a tiny region at small neutralino mass). The detectability of the signal by GL…
At the AMANDA South Pole site, four new holes were drilled to depths 2050 m to 2180 m and instrumented with 86 photomultipliers (PMTs) at depths 1520-2000 m. Of these PMTs 79 are working, with 4-ns timing resolution and noise rates 300 to 600 Hz. Various diagnostic devices were deployed and are working. An observed factor 60 increase in scattering length and a sharpening of the distribution of arrival times of laser pulses relative to measurements at 800-1000 m showed that air bubbles are absent below 1500 m. Absorption lengths are 100 to 150 m at wavelengths in the blue and UV to 337 nm. Muon…
Supersymmetric models which fulfill the conditions of electroweak naturalness generally contain light higgsinos with mass not too far from m_h ~125 GeV, while other sparticles can be much heavier. In R-parity conserving models, the lightest neutralino is then a higgsino-like WIMP (albeit with non-negligible gaugino components), with thermal relic density well below measured values. This leaves room for axions to function as co-dark matter particles. The local WIMP abundance is then expected to be below standard estimates, and direct and indirect detection rates must be accordingly rescaled. We…
