Working Groups

Members of this WG aim to shed light on the DM properties by detecting DM particles directly in Earth-based experiments. In particular, the results of SuperCDMS are expected to shape the DM paradigm during the next decade. Additionally, the MIGDAL experiment is notably timely. If the Migdal effect is tested, it would enable direct detection experiments to use it in low-mass DM searches. ANAIS-112 will also significantly impact the field, with the MultiDark network playing an important role in the repercussions of the ANAIS achievements in the coming years. It is also remarkable the IFCA’s leadership of the ARRAKIHS mission. 

The combined analysis of observations of dwarf galaxies will allow us to set constraints on the DM particle properties with unprecedented robustness. The results will be of global reference and practically unsurpassed until the advent of CTA. This WG provides CTA sensitivity predictions to WIMPs, which is crucial not only to understand the capabilities of CTA for DM searches but also to pave the way for achieving the most optimal DM data analysis strategy. In this way, the MultiDark network is helping in the development of current CTA analysis tools, that will be later used for the whole CTA’s community. Moreover, thanks to the implementation of machine learning techniques, a significant improvement in sensitivity to DM is also expected.

This WG aim to exploit the advantages that neutrino telescopes offer for some DM models, such as a better sensitivity to the neutrino channel, superb sensitivity at high DM masses for the Galactic center, searches in the Sun, etc. DM searches are one of the scientific priorities of the KM3NeT experiment, whose detectors are currently under construction. KM3NeT ARCA and ORCA enter into a phase that can yield competitive results and will undoubtedly be at the forefront of the field.

The results achieved by this WG have a significant impact on the interpretation of the experimental data collected at current detectors (LHC), future approved extensions (HL-LHC) as well as possible future experiments (e+e- colliders). The data is used to restrict the class of models containing DM, thus allowing the obtaining of theoretical predictions for collider experiments, as well as direct and indirect detection experiments. The results give guidance where DM – or related beyond standard model (BSM) physics – can be discovered at the various types of experiments. Several updates of roadmaps in the field of (astro-)particle physics are expected in the following years (e.g., European Strategy for Particle Physics Update (~2026)). Via the analysis of DM results in the context of BSM models, the results of this WG will have a direct impact on this kind of roadmaps and help to shape the field for the next years.

Members of the WG5 work on simulations and observations that help understand the DM distribution of the Universe, thus guiding indirect searches. Moreover, the planned application of machine learning techniques to these simulations will contribute to make the most out of the data, thereby helping to spread the use of such techniques. The most relevant results of the simulations are made publicly available through on-line databases (e.g., www.skiesanduniverses.org), allowing other groups to use them and boosting the impact of our results. Through the optimization of models and analysis techniques, the UIB node will secure a key role in the trailblazing science of the LVK collaboration, in the next-generation breakthroughs harvested with ET and LISA, and the wider open-source data-analysis software ecosystem. The next observing runs of the LVK network and future detectors will bring orders of magnitude more detections of gravitational waves (GWs) from compact binaries. This will enable precision studies of population and evolution of compact objects through cosmic time, potential discoveries of primordial black holes (PBHs) and exotic compact objects, tests of modifications to general relativity, and cosmographic measurements. Current and future missions in the GW community with European leading role, such as ET (where the USAL and UIB nodes participate) or MAAT in the GTC observing kilonovae, will also be able to benefit from setting additional constraints on DM from observations.