TPPC weekly seminar (in-person): Juri Smirnov - "Exoplanets as Dark Laboratories: New Searches for sub-GeV Dark Matter"

Wednesday 8 Mar 2023, 12:30 → 14:00 Europe/London

Strand Building, S7.06

Speaker: Juri Smirnov (University of Liverpool)

Title: Exoplanets as Dark Laboratories: New Searches for sub-GeV Dark Matter

Abstract:  I will discuss exoplanets as new targets to discover Dark Matter (DM). Throughout the Milky Way, DM can scatter, become captured, deposit annihilation energy, and increase the heat flow within exoplanets. I will show estimates for infrared telescope sensitivity to this scenario, finding actionable discovery or exclusion searches. Supporting evidence of a DM origin can be identified through DM-induced exoplanet heating correlated with Galactic position, and hence DM density. This provides new motivation to measure the temperature of the billions of brown dwarfs, rogue planets, and gas giants peppered throughout our Galaxy. I will make a specific focus on the calculation of the capture, distribution and evaporation of sub-GeV DM in the relevant celestial objects.

 

Kings College DM in Exoplanets.pdf