The old and still not solved problem of dark atom solution for the puzzles of direct dark matter searches is related with rigorous prove of the existence of a low energy bound state in the dark atom interaction with nuclei. Such prove must involve a self-consistent account of the nuclear attraction and Coulomb repulsion in such interaction. In the lack of usual small parameters of atomic physics like smallness of electromagnetic coupling of the electronic shell or smallness of the size of nucleus as compared with the radius of the Bohr orbit the rigorous study of this problem inevitably implies numerical simulation of dark atom interaction with nuclei. Our approach to such simulations of $OHe-$nucleus interaction involves multi-step approximation to the realistic picture by continuous addition to the initially classical picture of three point-like body problem essential quantum mechanical features.
In a companion paper (to be presented), lattice field theory methods are used to show that in two-color, two-flavor QCD there are stable nuclear states in the spectrum. As a commonly studied theory of composite dark matter, this motivates the consideration of possible nuclear physics in this and other composite dark sectors. In this work, early Universe cosmology and indirect detection signatures are explored for both symmetric and asymmetric dark matter, highlighting the unique features that arise from considerations of dark nuclei and associated dark nuclear processes. The present day dark m…
The puzzles of direct dark matter searches can be solved in the scenario of dark atoms, which bind hypothetical, stable, lepton-like particles with charge $-2n$, where $n$ is any natural number, with $n$ nuclei of primordial helium. Avoid experimental discovery because they form with primary helium neutral atom-like states $OHe$ ($X~-$ helium), called "dark" atoms. The proposed solution to this problem involves rigorous proof of the existence of a low-energy bound state in the dark atom interaction with nuclei. It implies self-consistent account for nuclear attraction and Coulomb repulsion in …
We examine the possibility that energetic Standard Model particles contained in the jets produced by active galactic nuclei (AGN) may scatter off of the dark matter halo which is expected to surround the AGN. In particular, if there are nearby states in the dark sector which can appear resonantly in the scattering, the cross section can be enhanced and a distinctive edge feature in the energy spectrum may appear. We examine bounds on supersymmetric models which may be obtained from the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope observation of the nearby AGN Centaurus A.
We investigate the physics of dark matter models featuring composite bound states carrying a large conserved dark "nucleon" number. The properties of sufficiently large dark nuclei may obey simple scaling laws, and we find that this scaling can determine the number distribution of nuclei resulting from Big Bang Dark Nucleosynthesis. For plausible models of asymmetric dark matter, dark nuclei of large nucleon number, e.g. > 10^8, may be synthesised, with the number distribution taking one of two characteristic forms. If small-nucleon-number fusions are sufficiently fast, the distribution of dar…
Electron-muon conversion in nuclei and rare decays induced by LFV dark photon
Bogoliubov Laboratory of Theoretical Physics, JINR（鲍戈留博夫理论物理实验室，俄罗斯联合核子研究所）；Matrosov Institute for System Dynamics and Control Theory SB RAS（马特罗索夫系统动力学与控制理论研究所，俄罗斯科学院西伯利亚分院）；Millennium Institute for Subatomic Physics at the High-Energy Frontier (SAPHIR) of ANID（智利国家研究与创新发展局高能前沿亚原子物理学千年研究所（SAPHIR））；Center for Theoretical and Experimental Particle Physics, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Universidad Andres Bello（安德烈斯贝洛大学精确科学学院理论与实验粒子物理中心）；Institut für Theoretische Physik, Universität Tübingen, Kepler Center for Astro and Particle Physics（蒂宾根大学理论物理研究所，开普勒天体与粒子物理中心）
We explore the stopping effect that results from interactions between dark matter and nuclei as the dark matter particles travel undergound towards the detector. Although this effect is negligible for heavy dark matter particles, there is parameter phase space where the underground interactions of the dark matter particles with the nuclei can create observable differences in the spectrum. Dark matter particles that arrive on the detector from below can have less energy from the ones arriving from above. These differences can be potentially detectable by upcoming directional detectors. This can…
We consider a scenario, within the framework of the MSSM, in which dark matter is bino-like and dark matter-nucleon spin-independent scattering occurs via the exchange of light squarks which exhibit left-right mixing. We show that direct detection experiments such as LUX and SuperCDMS will be sensitive to a wide class of such models through spin-independent scattering. Moreover, these models exhibit properties, such as isospin violation, that are not typically observed for the MSSM LSP if scattering occurs primarily through Higgs exchange. The dominant nuclear physics uncertainty is the quark …
Cosmic-ray boosted inelastic dark matter from neutrino-emitting active galactic nuclei
Virginia Tech（弗吉尼亚理工大学）；Massachusetts Institute of Technology（麻省理工学院）；Harvard University（哈佛大学）；The Pennsylvania State University（宾夕法尼亚州立大学）；Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory（费米国家加速实验室）；University of Chicago（芝加哥大学）
For direct dark matter detections, to extract useful information about the fundamental interaction from data, it is crucial to properly determine the nuclear form factor. The form factor for spin-independent cross section of collisions between dark matter particle and nucleus is thoroughly studied by many authors. When the analysis was carried out, the nuclei are always supposed to be spherically symmetric. In this work, we investigate the effects of deformation of nuclei from a spherical shape to an elliptical shape on the form factor. Our results indicate that as long as the ellipticity is n…
Motivated by recent cosmic ray experimental results there has been a proposition for a scenario where a secluded dark matter particle annihilates, primarily, into Standard Model leptons through a low mass mediator particle. We consider several varieties of this scenario depending on the type of mixing among gauge bosons and we study the implications in novel direct dark matter experiments for detecting low energy recoiling electrons. We find significant event rates and time modulation effects, especially in the case where the mediator is massless, that may be complementary to those from recoil…
The use of spin observables to study the semi-leptonic and non-leptonic weak interaction in atoms and nuclei is surveyed. In particular, the use of semi-leptonic neutral current scattering and atomic parity violation to search for physics beyond the Standard Model is reviewed. The status of nuclear parity violation as a probe of the weak N-N interaction is surveyed. Possible atomic and nuclear signatures of parity conserving, time-reversal violating interactions are also discussed.
We study the formation of Dark Matter nuclei in scenarios where DM particles are baryons of a new confining gauge force. The dark nucleosynthesis is analogous to the formation of light elements in the SM and requires as a first step the formation of dark deuterium. We compute this process from first principles, using the formalism of pion-less effective theory for nucleon-nucleon interactions. This controlled effective field theory expansion allows us to systematically compute the cross sections for generic SM representations under the assumption of shallow bound states. In the context of vect…
We compute the matrix elements for elastic scattering of dark matter (DM) particles off light nuclei ($^2$H, $^3$H, $^3$He, $^4$He and $^6$Li) using quantum Monte Carlo methods. We focus on scalar-mediated DM-nucleus interactions and use scalar currents obtained to next-to-leading order in chiral effective theory. The nuclear ground states are obtained from a phenomenological nuclear Hamiltonian that includes the Argonne $v_{18}$ two-body interaction and the three-body Urbana IX interaction. Within this approach, we study the impact of one- and two-body currents and discuss the size of nuclear…
We study the scattering of Dark Matter particles off various light nuclei within the framework of chiral effective field theory. We focus on scalar interactions and include one- and two-nucleon scattering processes whose form and strength are dictated by chiral symmetry. The nuclear wave functions are calculated from chiral effective field theory interactions as well and we investigate the convergence pattern of the chiral expansion in the nuclear potential and the Dark Matter-nucleus currents. This allows us to provide a systematic uncertainty estimate of our calculations. We provide results …
Studying antiproton scattering by nuclei (atoms) in the range of low energies, we found out that the increase in the antiproton-nucleus scattering amplitude through Coulomb interaction provides the possibility to investigate spin-dependent processes accompanying the interaction of antiprotons with nuclei (polarized or unpolarized) by means of mirror reflection of antiprotons from the vacuum-matter boundary, diffraction and channeling (surface diffraction and channeling) of antiprotons in crystals.
We study $ϕ$-meson production in nuclei to investigate the in-medium modification of the $ϕ$-meson spectral function at finite density. We consider (${\bar p},ϕ$), ($γ,p$) and ($π^-,n$) reactions to produce a $ϕ$-meson inside the nucleus and evaluate the effects of the medium modifications to reaction cross sections. The structures of the bound states, $ϕ$-mesic nuclei, are also studied. For strong absorptive interaction cases, we need to know the spectrum shape in a wide energy region to deduce the properties of $ϕ$.
We propose a new strategy to search for a particular type of dark matter via nuclear capture. If the dark matter particle carries baryon number, as motivated by a class of theoretical explanations of the matter-antimatter asymmetry of the universe, it can mix with the neutron and be captured by an atomic nucleus. The resulting state de-excites by emitting a single photon or a cascade of photons with a total energy of up to several MeV. The exact value of this energy depends on the dark matter mass. We investigate the prospects for detecting dark matter capture signals in current and future neu…
The hypothesis that dark matter consists of superheavy particles with the mass close to the Grand Unification scale is investigated. These particles were created from vacuum by the gravitation of the expanding Universe and their decay led to the observable baryon charge. Some part of these particles with the lifetime larger than the time of breaking of the Grand Unification symmetry became metastable and survived up to the modern time as dark matter. However in active galactic nuclei due to large energies of dark matter particles swallowed by the black hole the opposite process can occur. Dark…
We investigate the role of nuclear spin in elastic scattering of Dark Matter (DM) neutralinos from nuclei in the framework of the Minimal SUSY standard model (MSSM). The relative contribution of spin-dependent axial-vector and spin-independent scalar interactions to the event rate in a DM detector has been analyzed for various nuclei. Within general assumptions about the nuclear and nucleon structure we find that for nuclei with atomic weights $A > 50$ the spin-independent part of the event rate $R_{si}$ is larger than the spin-dependent one $R_{sd}$ in the domain of the MSSM parameter space a…
We consider two-colour QCD with two flavours of quarks as a possible theory of composite dark matter and use lattice field theory methods to investigate nuclear spectroscopy in the spin $J=0$ and $J=1$ multi-baryon sectors. We find compelling evidence that $J=1$ systems with baryon number $B=2,3$ (and their mixed meson-baryon counterparts) are bound states - the analogues of nuclei in this theory. In addition, we estimate the $σ$-terms of the $J=0$ and $J=1$ single baryon states which are important for the coupling of the theory to scalar currents that may mediate interactions with the visible…
Present and prospective fundamental symmetry tests with nucleons, nuclei and atoms are probing for possible new physics at the TeV scale and beyond. These ongoing and proposed table-top as well as accelerator-based experiments are thus a vital component of the Intensity Frontier. At the same time, these tests provide increasingly sophisticated probes of long-distance strong interactions that are responsible for the structure of nucleons and nuclei. In this community report, some of the most compelling opportunities with nucleons, nuclei and atoms are summarized, drawing largely on input receiv…
Capturing low-energy electron antineutrinos on radioactive Ho-163 nuclei, which decay into Dy-163 via electron capture (EC), is a noteworthy opportunity to detect relic sterile antineutrinos. Such hypothetical particles are more or less implied by current experimental and cosmological data, and they might be a part of hot dark matter or a candidate for warm dark matter in the Universe. Using the isotope Ho-163 as a target and assuming reasonable active-sterile antineutrino mixing angles, we calculate the capture rate of relic electron antineutrinos against the corresponding EC-decay background…
In this paper, as the second part of the third step of our study on developing data analysis procedures for using 3-dimensional information offered by directional direct Dark Matter detection experiments in the future, we investigate the angular distributions of the recoil direction (flux) and the recoil energy of the Monte Carlo simulated WIMP-scattered target nuclei observed in different celestial coordinate systems. The "anisotropy" and the "directionality" ("annual" modulation) of the angular recoil-direction/energy distributions will be demonstrated. We will also discuss their dependences…
Experiments using nuclei to probe new physics beyond the Standard Model, such as neutrinoless $ββ$ decay searches testing whether neutrinos are their own antiparticle, and direct detection experiments aiming to identify the nature of dark matter, require accurate nuclear physics input for optimizing their discovery potential and for a correct interpretation of their results. This demands a detailed knowledge of the nuclear structure relevant for these processes. For instance, neutrinoless $ββ$ decay nuclear matrix elements are very sensitive to the nuclear correlations in the initial and final…
We show that the presence of a rho~1/r^{3/2} dark matter overdensity can be robustly predicted at the center of any galaxy old enough to have grown a power-law density cusp in the stars via the Bahcall-Wolf mechanism. Using both Fokker-Planck and direct N-body integrations, we demonstrate collisional generation of these dark matter "crests" (Collisionally REgenerated STtructures) even in the extreme case that the density of both stars and dark matter were previously lowered by slingshot ejection from a binary supermassive black hole. The time scale for collisional growth of the crest is approx…
We examine the possibility that accretion of Dissipative Dark Matter (DDM) onto Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) contributes to the growth rate of Super Massive Black Holes (SMBHs). Such a scenario could alleviate tension associated with anomalously large SMBHs measured at very early cosmic times, as well as observations that indicate that the growth of the most massive SMBHs occurs before $z\sim6$, with little growth at later times. These observations are not readily explained within standard AGN theory. We find a range in the parameter space of DDM models where we both expect efficient accretion…
In this paper, as the third part of the third step of our study on developing data analysis procedures for using 3-dimensional information offered by directional direct Dark Matter detection experiments in the future, we introduce a 3-dimensional effective velocity distribution of halo Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs), which, instead of the theoretically prediction of the entire Galactic Dark Matter particles, describes the actual velocity distribution of WIMPs scattering off (specified) target nuclei in an underground detector. Its target and WIMP-mass dependences as well as ("ann…
Nuclear forces and the nuclear many-body problem have been some of Gerry Brown's main topics in his so productive life as a theoretical physicist. In this talk, I outline how Gerry's work laid the foundations of the modern theory of nuclear forces and ab initio calculations of atomic nuclei. I also present some recent developments obtained in the framework of nuclear lattice simulations.
A new dynamic is identified between dark matter and nuclei. Nuclei accelerated to MeV energies by the internal potential of composite dark matter can undergo nuclear fusion. This effect arises in simple models of composite dark matter made of heavy fermions bound by a light scalar field. Cosmologies and detection prospects are explored for composites that catalyze nuclear reactions in underground detectors and stars, including bremsstrahlung radiation from nuclei scattering against electrons in hot plasma formed in the composite interior. If discovered and collected, this kind of composite dar…
In a popular class of models, dark matter comprises an asymmetric population of composite particles with short range interactions arising from a confined nonabelian gauge group. We show that coupling this sector to a well-motivated light mediator particle yields efficient darkleosynthesis, a dark-sector version of big-bang nucleosynthesis (BBN), in generic regions of parameter space. Dark matter self-interaction bounds typically require the confinement scale to be above Λ_{QCD}, which generically yields large (>>MeV/dark-nucleon) binding energies. These bounds further suggest the mediator is r…
Recent studies of the cosmic-ray antiproton-to-proton ratio have identified an excess of $\sim$10-20 GeV antiprotons relative to the predictions of standard astrophysical models. Intriguingly, the properties of this excess are consistent with the same range of dark matter models that can account for the long-standing excess of $γ$-rays observed from the Galactic Center. Such dark matter candidates can also produce significant fluxes of anti-deuterium and anti-helium nuclei. Here we study the production and transport of such particles, both from astrophysical processes as well as from dark matt…
We consider indirect detection signals of atomic dark matter, with a massive dark photon which mixes kinetically with hypercharge. In significant regions of parameter space, dark matter remains at least partially ionized today, and dark atom formation can occur efficiently in dense regions, such as the centers of galactic halos. The formation of dark atoms is accompanied by emission of a dark photon, which can subsequently decay into Standard Model particles. We discuss the expected signal strength and compare it to that of annihilating dark matter. As a case study, we explore the possibility …
We propose that dark matter is dominantly comprised of atomic bound states. We build a simple model and map the parameter space that results in the early universe formation of hydrogen-like dark atoms. We find that atomic dark matter has interesting implications for cosmology as well as direct detection: Protohalo formation can be suppressed below $M_{proto} \sim 10^3 - 10^6 M_{\odot}$ for weak scale dark matter due to Ion-Radiation interactions in the dark sector. Moreover, weak-scale dark atoms can accommodate hyperfine splittings of order $100 \kev$, consistent with the inelastic dark matte…
There exists an observed "desert" spanning six orders of magnitude between O(0.5) eV and O(0.5) MeV in the fermion mass spectrum. We argue that it might accommodate one or more keV sterile neutrinos as a natural candidate for warm dark matter. To illustrate this point of view, we simply assume that there is one keV sterile neutrino nu_4 and its flavor eigenstate nu_s weakly mixes with three active neutrinos. We clarify different active-sterile neutrino mixing factors for the radiative decay of nu_4 and beta decays in a self-consistent parametrization. A direct detection of this keV sterile neu…
Local Lorentz Invariance violating (LLIV) and Einstein equivalence principle violating (EEPV) effects in atomic experiments are discussed. The EEPV effects are strongly enhanced in the narrow 7.8 eV transition in 229Th nucleus. Nuclear LLIV momentum tensors describing anisotropy in the maximal attainable speed for massive particles (analog of Michelson-Morley experiment for light) are expressed in terms of the experimental values of nuclear quadrupole moments. Calculations for nuclei of experimental interest 133Cs, 85Rb, 87Rb, 201Hg, 131Xe and 21Ne have been performed. The results for 21Ne are…
Direct dark matter detection focuses on elastic scattering of dark matter particles off nuclei. In this study, we explore inelastic scattering where the nucleus is excited to a low-lying state of 10-100 keV, with subsequent prompt de-excitation. We calculate the inelastic structure factors for the odd-mass xenon isotopes based on state-of-the-art large-scale shell-model calculations with chiral effective field theory WIMP-nucleon currents. For these cases, we find that the inelastic channel is comparable to or can dominate the elastic channel for momentum transfers around 150 MeV. We calculate…
Using a Thomas-Fermi model, we calculate the structure of the electrosphere of the quark antimatter nuggets postulated to comprise much of the dark matter. This provides a single self-consistent density profile from ultrarelativistic densities to the nonrelativistic Boltzmann regime that use to present microscopically justified calculations of several properties of the nuggets, including their net charge, and the ratio of MeV to 511 keV emissions from electron annihilation. We find that the calculated parameters agree with previous phenomenological estimates based on the observational supposit…
It is often assumed that few- and many-body systems can be accurately described by considering only pairwise two-body interactions of the constituents. We illustrate that three- and higher-body forces enter naturally in effective field theories and are especially prominent in strongly interacting quantum systems. We focus on three-body forces and discuss examples from atomic and nuclear physics. In particular, we highlight the importance and the challenges of three-nucleon forces for nuclear structure and reactions, including applications to astrophysics and fundamental symmetries.
Anisotropy in the speed of light that has been constrained by Michelson-Morley-type experiments also generates anisotropy in the Coulomb interactions. This anisotropy can manifest itself as an energy anisotropy in nuclear and atomic experiments. Here the experimental limits on Lorentz violation in 21Ne are used to improve the limits on the Lorentz symmetry in the photon sector, namely the anisotropy of the speed of light and the Coulomb interactions, by 7 orders of magnitude in comparison with previous experiments: the speed of light is isotropic to a part in E-28.
Searches for the permanent electric dipole moments (EDMs) of molecules, atoms, nucleons and nuclei provide powerful probes of CP violation both within and beyond the Standard Model (BSM). The interpretation of experimental EDM limits requires careful delineation of physics at a wide range of distance scales, from the long-range atomic and molecular scales to the short-distance dynamics of physics at or beyond the Fermi scale. In this review, we provide a framework for disentangling contributions from physics at these disparate scales, building out from the set of dimension four and six effecti…
Deformed nuclei possess enhanced moments violating time reversal invariance ($T$) and parity ($P$). Collective magnetic quadrupole moments (MQM) appear in nuclei with a quadrupole deformation (which have ordinary $T$,$P$-conserving collective electric quadrupole moments). Nuclei with an octupole deformation have a collective electric octupole moment, electric dipole moment (EDM), Schiff moment and MQM in the intrinsic frame which rotates with the nucleus. In a state with definite angular momentum in the laboratory frame, these moments are forbidden by $T$ and $P$ conservation, meaning their ex…
We discuss the stability of atoms and nucleons in the presence of multidimensional gravity characterized by the unified energy scale 1TeV. We point out that the multidimensional gravitational attraction can create additional bound states deep inside of atomic and nucleon constituents. These states would be characterized by sizes comparable to the TeV scale distance. We show that shallow gravity induced bound states between an electron and a quark are ruled out, because collapse processes in atoms to such bound states would occur on time scales which are in contradiction to current data on the …
The electric dipole moment (EDM) is a very sensitive probe of CP violation beyond the standard model, and it as been measured in many systems such as atoms, neutrons, etc. The EDM of composite systems may be sensitive to several elementary level CP violating processes, but the theoretical evaluations of the CP violation at different physical (atomic, nuclear, hadronic, elementary) hierarchies are required to unveil them. In this context, we are particularly interested in which CP violating processes are enhanced in a given system, or vice versa. In this proceedings contribution, we will give a…
