Douglas Spolyar

Beyond ΛCDM: Problems, solutions, and the road ahead

Despite its continued observational successes, there is a persistent (and growing) interest in extending cosmology beyond the standard model, ΛCDM. This is motivated by a range of apparently serious theoretical issues, involving such questions as the cosmological constant problem, the particle nature of dark matter, the validity of general relativity on large scales, the existence of anomalies in the CMB and on small scales, and the predictivity and testability of the inflationary paradigm. In this paper, we summarize the current status of ΛCDM as a physical theory, and review investigations into possible alternatives along a number of different lines, with a particular focus on highlighting the most promising directions. While the fundamental problems are proving reluctant to yield, the study of alternative cosmologies has led to considerable progress, with much more to come if hopes about forthcoming high-precision observations and new theoretical ideas are fulfilled.

DARK STARS: A NEW LOOK AT THE FIRST STARS IN THE UNIVERSE

We have proposed that the first phase of stellar evolution in the history of the Universe may be Dark Stars (DS), powered by dark matter heating rather than by nuclear fusion, and in this paper we examine the history of these DS. The power source is annihilation of Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs) which are their own antiparticles. These WIMPs are the best motivated dark matter (DM) candidates and may be discovered by ongoing direct or indirect detection searches (e.g. FERMI/GLAST) or at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN. A new stellar phase results, powered by DM annihilation as long as there is DM fuel, from millions to billions of years. We build up the dark stars from the time DM heating becomes the dominant power source, accreting more and more matter onto them. We have included many new effects in the current study, including a variety of particle masses and accretion rates, nuclear burning, feedback mechanisms, and possible repopulation of DM density due to capture. Remarkably, we find that in all these cases, we obtain the same result: the first stars are very large, 500-1000 times as massive as the Sun; as well as puffy (radii 1-10 A.U.), bright (10 6 − 10 7 L⊙), and cool (Tsurf 50,000K). Hence DS should be observationally distinct from standard Pop III stars. In addition, DS avoid the (unobserved) element enrichment produced by the standard first stars. Once the dark matter fuel is exhausted, the DS becomes a heavy main sequence star; these stars eventually collapse to form massive black holes that may provide seeds for the supermassive black holes observed at early times as well as explanations for recent ARCADE data (Seiffert et al. 2009) and for intermediate mass black holes. Subject headings: Dark Matter, Star Formation, Accretion

Stellar Structure of Dark Stars: A First Phase of Stellar Evolution Resulting from Dark Matter Annihilation

Dark stars are the very first phase of stellar evolution in the history of the universe: the first stars to form (typically at redshifts -->z ~ 10–50) are powered by heating from dark matter (DM) annihilation instead of fusion (if the DM is made of particles which are their own antiparticles). We find equilibrium polytropic configurations for these stars; we start from the time DM heating becomes important ( -->M ~ 1–10 -->M☉) and build up the star via accretion up to 1000 -->M☉. The dark stars, with an assumed particle mass of 100 GeV, are found to have luminosities of a few times 106 -->L☉, surface temperatures of 4000-10,000 K, radii ~1014 cm, and lifetimes of at least 0.5 Myr and are predicted to show lines of atomic and molecular hydrogen. Dark stars look quite different from standard metal-free stars without DM heating: they are far more massive (e.g., ~800 -->M☉ for 100 GeV WIMPs), cooler, and larger and can be distinguished in future observations, possibly even by JWST or TMT.

Compatibility of DAMA/LIBRA dark matter detection with other searches in light of new galactic rotation velocity measurements

The DAMA/NaI and DAMA/LIBRA annual modulation data, which may be interpreted as a signal for the existence of weakly interacting dark matter (WIMPs) in our galactic halo, are re-examined in light of new measurements of the local velocity relative to the galactic halo. In the vicinity of the Sun, the velocity of the Galactic disk has been estimated to be 250 km/s rather than 220 km/s [1]. Our analysis is performed both with and without the channeling effect included. The best fit regions to the DAMA data are shown to move to slightly lower WIMP masses. Compatibility of DAMA data with null results from other experiments (CDMS, XENON10, and CRESST I) is investigated given these new velocities. A small region of spin-independent (elastic) scattering for 7–8 GeV WIMP masses remains at 3σ. Spin-dependent scattering off of protons is viable for 5–15 GeV WIMP masses for direct detection experiments (but has been argued by others to be further constrained by Super-Kamiokande due to annihilation in the Sun).

Cascade events at IceCube + DeepCore as a definitive constraint on the dark matter interpretation of the PAMELA and Fermi anomalies

Dark matter decaying or annihilating into μ^+μ^- or τ^+τ^- has been proposed as an explanation for the e^± anomalies reported by PAMELA and Fermi. Recent analyses show that IceCube, supplemented by DeepCore, will be able to significantly constrain the parameter space of decays to μ^+μ^-, and rule out decays to τ^+τ^- and annihilations to μ^+μ^- in less than five years of running. These analyses rely on measuring tracklike events in IceCube + DeepCore from down-going ν_μ. In this paper we show that by instead measuring cascade events, which are induced by all neutrino flavors, IceCube + DeepCore can rule out decays to μ^+μ^- in only three years of running, and rule out decays to τ^+τ^- and annihilation to μ^+μ^- in only one year of running. These constraints are highly robust to the choice of dark matter halo profile and independent of dark matter-nucleon crosssection.

Topology and Dark Energy: Testing Gravity in Voids

Modified gravity has garnered interest as a backstop against dark matter and dark energy (DE). As one possible modification, the graviton can become massive, which introduces a new scalar field--here with a Galileon-type symmetry. The field can lead to a nontrivial equation of state of DE which is density and scale dependent. Tension between type Ia supernovae and Planck could be reduced. In voids, the scalar field dramatically alters the equation of state of DE, induces a soon-observable gravitational slip between the two metric potentials, and develops a topological defect (domain wall) due to a nontrivial vacuum structure for the field.

Black holes in our galactic halo: compatibility with FGST and PAMELA data and constraints on the first stars

10−105m☉ black holes with dark matter spikes that formed in early minihalos and still exist in our Milky Way Galaxy today are examined in light of recent data from the Fermi Gamma-Ray Space Telescope (FGST). The dark matter spikes surrounding black holes in our Galaxy are sites of significant dark matter annihilation. We examine the signatures of annihilations into gamma-rays, e+/e−, and neutrinos. We find that some significant fraction of the point sources detected by FGST might be due to dark matter annihilation near black holes in our Galaxy. We obtain limits on the properties of dark matter annihilations in the spikes using the information in the FGST First Source Catalog as well as the diffuse gamma-ray flux measured by FGST. We determine the maximum fraction of high redshift minihalos that could have hosted the formation of the first generation of stars and, subsequently, their black hole remnants. The strength of the limits depends on the choice of annihilation channel and black hole mass; limits are strongest for the heaviest black holes and annhilation to b and W+W− final states. The larger black holes considered in this paper may arise as the remnants of Dark Stars after the dark matter fuel is exhausted and thermonuclear burning runs its course; thus FGST observations may be used to constrain the properties of Dark Stars. Additionally, we comment on the excess positron flux found by PAMELA and its possible interpretation in terms of dark matter annihilation around these black hole spikes.

High-energy neutrino signatures of dark matter

It has been suggested that the excesses of high-energy cosmic ray electrons and positrons seen by PAMELA and the Fermi Gamma Ray Space Telescope are evidence of dark matter annihilation or decay in the Galactic halo. To accommodate these signals however, the final states must be predominantly muons or taus. These leptonic final states will produce neutrinos, which are potentially detectable with the IceCube neutrino observatory. We find that with five years of data, IceCube (supplemented by DeepCore) can significantly constrain the relevant parameter space for both annihilating or decaying dark matter, and may be capable of discovering leptophilic dark matter in the halo of the Milky Way.

Fermi/LAT observations of dwarf galaxies highly constrain a dark matter interpretation of excess positrons seen in AMS-02, HEAT, and PAMELA

It is shown that a Weakly Interacting Massive dark matter Particle (WIMP) interpretation for the positron excess observed in a variety of experiments, HEAT, PAMELA, and AMS-02, is highly constrained by the Fermi/LAT observations of dwarf galaxies. In particular, this paper has focused on the annihilation channels that best fit the current AMS-02 data (Boudaud et al., 2014). The Fermi satellite has surveyed the

Inelastic Dark Matter As An Efficient Fuel For Compact Stars

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