Direct Detection of Hawking Radiation from Asteroid-Mass Primordial Black Holes.

Light, asteroid-mass primordial black holes, with lifetimes in the range between hundreds to several millions times the age of the Universe, are well-motivated candidates for the cosmological dark matter. Using archival COMPTEL data, we improve over current constraints on the allowed parameter space of primordial black holes as dark matter by studying their evaporation to soft gamma rays in nearby astrophysical structures. We point out that a new generation of proposed MeV gamma-ray telescopes will offer the unique opportunity to directly detect Hawking evaporation from observations of nearby dark matter dense regions and to constrain, or discover, the primordial black hole dark matter.

Wobbly Dark Matter Signals at Cherenkov Telescopes from Long-Lived Mediator Decays.

Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov telescope (IACT) searches for dark matter often perform observations in "wobble mode," i.e., simultaneously collecting data from the signal region and from a corresponding background control region.

Sub-GeV Dark Matter Shining at Future MeV γ-Ray Telescopes.

We propose a novel framework where light (sub-GeV) dark matter (DM) is detectable with future MeV γ-ray telescopes without conflicting with cosmic microwave background (CMB) data. The stable DM particle χ has a very low thermal relic abundance due to its large pair-annihilation cross section. The DM number density is stored in a slightly heavier, metastable partner ψ with suppressed pair-annihilation rates, that does not perturb the CMB, and whose late-time decays ψ→χ fill the Universe with χ DM particles.

The waning of the WIMP? A review of models, searches, and constraints.

Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs) are among the best-motivated dark matter candidates. No conclusive signal, despite an extensive search program that combines, often in a complementary way, direct, indirect, and collider probes, has been detected so far. This situation might change in near future due to the advent of one/multi-TON Direct Detection experiments.

Cosmic-Ray Injection from Star-Forming Regions.

At present, all physical models of diffuse Galactic γ-ray emission assume that the distribution of cosmic-ray sources traces the observed populations of either OB stars, pulsars, or supernova remnants. However, since H_{2}-rich regions host significant star formation and numerous supernova remnants, the morphology of observed H_{2} gas (as traced by CO line surveys) should also provide a physically motivated, high-resolution tracer for cosmic-ray injection. We assess the impact of utilizing H_{2} as a tracer for cosmic-ray injection on models of diffuse Galactic γ-ray emission.

Three-loop corrections to the Higgs boson mass and implications for supersymmetry at the LHC.

In supersymmetric models with minimal particle content and without left-right squark mixing, the conventional wisdom is that the 125.6 GeV Higgs boson mass implies top squark masses of O(10)  TeV, far beyond the reach of colliders. This conclusion is subject to significant theoretical uncertainties, however, and we provide evidence that it may be far too pessimistic.

Regenerating a symmetry in asymmetric dark matter.

Asymmetric dark matter theories generically allow for mass terms that lead to particle-antiparticle mixing. Over the age of the Universe, dark matter can thus oscillate from a purely asymmetric configuration into a symmetric mix of particles and antiparticles, allowing for pair-annihilation processes. Additionally, requiring efficient depletion of the primordial thermal (symmetric) component generically entails large annihilation rates.

Early annihilation and diffuse backgrounds in models of weakly interacting massive particles in which the cross section for pair annihilation is enhanced by 1/upsilon.

Recent studies have considered modifications to the standard weakly interacting massive particle scenario in which the pair annihilation cross section (times relative velocity v) is enhanced by a factor 1/upsilon to approximately 10(-3) in the Galaxy, enough to explain several puzzling Galactic radiation signals. We show that in these scenarios a burst of weakly interacting massive particle annihilation occurs in the first collapsed dark-matter halos. We show that severe constraints to the annihilation cross section derive from measurements of the diffuse extragalactic radiation and from ionization and heating of the intergalactic medium.

What mass are the smallest protohalos?

We calculate the kinetic-decoupling temperature for weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs) in supersymmetric (SUSY) and extra dimensional models that can account for the cold-dark-matter abundance determined from cosmic microwave background measurements. Depending on the parameters of the particle-physics model, a wide variety of decoupling temperatures is possible, ranging from several MeV to a few GeV. These decoupling temperatures imply a range of masses for the smallest protohalos much larger than previously thought--ranging from 10(-6)M(+ in a circle) to 10(2)M(+ in a circle).