MultiDark Nodes

On the astrophysical side, this node’s expertise is mainly focused on Indirect DM  detection, Cosmological simulations, and Theoretical cosmology and gravitational waves (GWs). Indirect DM detection experts, led by Miguel A. Sánchez-Conde, are members of  Fermi-LAT and the CTA international gamma-ray collaborations. UAM/IFT node is prominent in leading or co-leading current DM  activities and coordinating their DM working groups. UAM/IFT is also a member of the DESI  Collaboration, which will allow them to infer the DM distribution in many DM targets, better determining their DM-induced signals. Team members use results from numerical cosmological simulations, particularly relevant to guide current and future DM  searches. Besides, they also explore primordial black holes (PBHs) as possible DM candidates, alternative cosmological DM theories, and the potential of GW detectors to learn about DM. 

This node is also involved in direct DM detection via the SuperCDMS Collaboration. David G. Cerdeño leads the effort. A new detector will become operational by mid-2023, for which the UAM/IFT will contribute to data taking and analysis. They are also coordinators of the reconstruction of WG and are involved in machine learning (ML) efforts to improve background discrimination. Team members are also leading the interpretation of the data in effective field theory DM interactions. UAM/IFT is also a member of the MIGDAL collaboration, which will be crucial to interpret low-energy recoils and test lighter DM candidates. On theoretical grounds,  the group study models with light new mediators, for which they will look for complementary information in neutrino experiments. They will also study the production of light mediators in compact objects to derive new bounds on non-standard neutrino interactions. 

The phenomenology group at UAM/IFT, co-led by Juan A. Aguilar Saavedra, Sven Heinemeyer, and Carlos Muñoz, is exploring new DM particle models beyond the Standard Model (SM). These are analyzed from the theoretical side, and confronted with current data on DM, such as relic abundance and (in)direct detection limits. Detailed theory predictions about the DM phenomenology are calculated for the preferred parameter space. This is crucial for DM analyses at the LHC and future HL-LHC and e+e – Colliders. A particular focus is put on the complementarity of the physics at current and future colliders and astrophysical DM probes.

The CIEMAT direct DM search group, represented by Roberto Santorelli, participates in the Global Argon DM collaboration and plays a central role in 3 experiments: DarkSide-20k, where they are responsible for materials, radiopurity and where the construction phase is now starting; DEAP-3600 where they lead the development of neural networks to discriminate backgrounds; and DArT, a subproject of DarkSide located in the Canfranc Underground Laboratory (LSC) where the content of Ar-39 in the Ar of underground origin will be characterized. CIEMAT is also involved in indirect DM searches via C. Delgado and his group. They are members of MAGIC and CTA and count on significant contributions to DM-related science and hardware and software within both collaborations.

The IAC node is numerous and multidisciplinary, having expertise in 3 main areas: Astroparticle Theory (PI J. Martín Camalich), Particle Astrophysics (R. García-López), and DM in galaxies (Sánchez, Trujillo, Battaglia, di Cintio, Brook, Dalla Vecchia). On the Astroparticle Theory side, IAC members exploit the synergies between astrophysical observations and laboratory experiments:
(1) Searches of ultra-light DM through distinctive signatures in astrophysical observations or laboratory experiments.
(2) Connecting flavor physics with cosmology and astrophysics, in particular, the relation of possible extensions of the SM to address the so-called flavor anomalies to the DM or baryogenesis puzzles.
As for Particle Astrophysics, the IAC team participates actively in large collaborations: AMS, MAGIC, CTA, and ASTRI. We remind CTA-North is being built in Roque de los Muchachos Observatory, hosted by the IAC, and, thus, the IAC node is particularly relevant within CTA. The IAC team is also studying the connection between galaxies and DM. On the observational side, they use dwarf galaxies to constrain the nature of DM, looking for the presence of cores or cusps in their centers to test the standard cosmological model; characterizing the number of low-mass satellites; using data from Gaia and spectrographs to improve the observational knowledge on properties relevant for determinations of the DM content, etc. On simulations, current research lines include dwarf galaxies, spiral galaxies, and galaxy clusters. State-of-the-art simulations are being run to study the main problems that may arise in a cold DM model.
The IAC group will soon have fully developed a new code for running hydrodynamic simulations that can be applied to local group simulations. The group has access to the most important simulations of galaxies existing today (EAGLE, CLUES, HESTIA…). Also, new ML methodologies are being implemented to strengthen the impact of this research in other areas.

The DM activities at IFAE, coordinated by Abelardo Moralejo for this Network, rely on the analysis of MAGIC data (being IFAE a founding institute) and CTA, whose first Large-Sized Telescope prototype was installed in La Palma in 2018 and is already producing scientific results. During the duration of the Network, the activities will focus on the analysis of various targets regularly observed by these telescopes, including the Galactic center, dwarf galaxies, and galaxy clusters. IFAE will also perform multi-messenger DM studies by combing data from neutrino (ANTARES) and gamma-ray (MAGIC) telescopes. This will allow IFAE members to build common analysis tools and establish a framework that will result in better sensitivity. This work will be done in a joint effort with the IFIC-Exp node.

This node, led by Rocío Vilar, participates in different projects:

• Participation and leadership in space science programs, including DUNES and ARRAKIHS, HST, JWST, Euclid, and LiteBIRD.
• Development of low mass direct DM searches: DAMIC-M, ADEx, and OSCURA.
• Consolidation of the institute’s leading role in DM searches at the LHC for Run 3 (2022 – 2025), in the context of the CMS experiment.
• DM Theory and Phenomenology in particle, astroparticle, and cosmology.
• DUNES is a SmallSat mission proposal submitted to NASA in 2022, for launch around Q4 – 2025.

IFCA is a member of the core science team of DUNES, which aims to image galaxies and galaxy clusters down to ultra-low surface brightness. ARRAKIHS is a SmallSat mission led by IFCA, proposed as an ESA F (fast) mission in 2022 that has passed phase 1 and is now in phase 2 of the selection process for launch around 2030. ARRAKIHS will perform a complete census of nearby galaxy halos, which may allow us to test alternative DM models definitively.
IFCA is also involved in Euclid, which will map the DM distribution through gravitational lensing, and LiteBIRD, a CMB polarization experiment that will allow probing ultra-light DM. IFCA will also be actively involved in large observing programs with both the HST and JWST. DAMIC-M is a planned kg-scale detector, expected to begin data taking in Q3-2024, that will have sensitivity to DM scattering cross sections several orders of magnitudes smaller than existing searches. The efforts made in DAMIC-M will also be crucial for the development of OSCURA, a proposed 10-kg CCD-based detector to begin construction in 2024. IFCA also collaborates in the development of the recently proposed CADEx to search for axions. It is also involved in the exploitation of LHC data during Run 3 (2022-2025) through participation in the CMS experiment. IFCA experts are also investigating the search for DM in the form of exotic charged compact objects in CMS cosmic-ray data; as well as searches for PBHs as DM, studying the prospects for detecting PBH mergers in GW observatories and via gravitational lensing.

This node, coordinated by Martin Hirsch, will study contributions from possible DM WIMP candidates to SMEFT d=6 operators and compare them to sensitivities for current and future LHC data. They also aim at both exploring the phenomenology of well-motivated existing neutrino mass models and studying innovative pathways to build new theoretical frameworks connecting neutrinos with DM. The physics of CEνNS is of particular interest also for DM searches. The IFIC-AHEP team will exploit the CEvNS laboratory data (both from pi-DARs and reactors) to search for new physics signals, including light DM particles. They also plan to investigate the signatures of PBH DM in different facilities. For instance, they will consider how their evaporation could affect the neutrino sensitivity of future DM experiments.

The IFIC group, led in this proposal by Juan de Dios Zornoza, has a long experience in analyses looking for DM with the ANTARES neutrino telescope. It has also worked on the first estimations of the capability of the KM3NeT detector for DM searches. The ANTARES detector was recently decommissioned, after 14 years, while the first 30 lines of KM3NeT are already deployed and taking data. The plans are the following:

• Complete the analysis of the Galactic center with the complete sample of ANTARES data.
• Obtain the first results on DM with KM3NeT for searches in the Galactic Center.
• Improve the estimations of the sensitivity of full KM3NeT for DM searches.
• Study less-standard scenarios (secluded DM, dark photons, sterile neutrinos, etc.) both with
  ANTARES and KM3NeT data.
• Carry out combined analysis using ANTARES and MAGIC data to constrain DM annihilation
  cross-section. This will be done in coordination with the IFAE node.
• Collaborate with the UPV and UGR groups in the DM analysis that uses Sun observations.

The DM problem is being studied by a dozen UCM members from different groups: from theoretical, observational, and experimental sides. Theoretical models are being developed to accommodate DM from extensions of the SM. New WIMPs in extra-dimensional theories are being considered, as well as non-WIMP models such as ultra-light scalar, vector, and tensor degrees of freedom, which behave as coherent cosmological fields. Members of this node, which will be led in this proposal by José A. Ruíz Cembranos, have teamed up since 2010 to search for those DM particles, both studying the sensitivity of current observatories to the detection of the various kinds of DM candidates, as well as searching for their gamma-ray signature with Fermi-LAT, MAGIC, and VERITAS. Indeed, the UCM node also has extensive experience in gamma-ray telescopes, from their design to their scientific exploitation. UCM is a member of MAGIC, VERITAS, and CTA. They also have experience analyzing Fermi-LAT data.

Current DM activities, coordinated by Daniel Nieto for this call, focus on the combined analysis of observations of dwarf galaxies with various gamma-ray telescopes, the experimental constraint of branon DM, and the implementation of ML techniques to improve the sensitivity of gamma-ray telescopes. The work plan during the Network duration consists of giving continuity to these developing lines of research (combined analyses, and data from neutrino telescopes that will give these searches a multi-messenger character, and new observations…).

The UGR node, led by Sergio Navas, has experience in ANTARES and KM3NeT Monte Carlo studies and data analyses related to DM searches. They estimated the sensitivity of the full KM3NeT-ORCA detector to the detection of DM in the Sun, paving the path for the current analyses that use recorded data. The UGR team has collaborated with IFIC on the estimation of the KM3NeT performances to search for DM in the Galactic Center. Using ANTARES data, they also led the search for solar atmospheric neutrinos in the Sun, which can be a source of background for DM searches. The plan for the upcoming years includes the following topics:

• Searches for DM in the Sun with the KM3NeT detector: optimization of the selection cuts, calculation of the sensitivity of the telescope, and publication of the first limits with the recorded data by the first deployed detector units.
• Analysis of the full data statistics recorded by ANTARES before decommissioning in 2022, searching for DM signals.
• Analysis of the full data statistics recorded by ANTARES searching for solar atmospheric neutrino signals. UGR members will test different cosmic ray and solar models, optimize the detector acceptance, unblind the data, and interpret the results.
• Collaborate with other Spanish KM3NeT groups to study less-standard scenarios like Secluded DM or dark photons.

The work for the next years, led by Mario E. Gómez Santamaría, will focus on studying the predictions from models that can provide signals both in the LHC and in the underground experiments. Their main line of action is to propose models that can explain the amount of DM required by cosmology, the signals that can be observed in the LHC, and the discrepancies between the SM prediction and the experimental evidence in processes, like the muon g-2.

The UIB node is one of the pioneering groups in Spain in the effort to detect GWs. The group is a member of both LIGO and GEO collaborations and focuses on the observation of compact binaries and work toward the detection of continuous gravitational waves (CWs), especially from rapidly rotating neutron stars and as a probe of DM. David Keitel, PI of this node, is the current co-chair of the LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA CW WG, in which Alicia M. Sintes is also a leading expert. Work on compact binaries is led by S. Husa and focuses on the development of the family of phenomenological waveform models. The group has also pioneered the use of high-performance computing (HPC) for GW data analysis, and is active in developing new and improved methods to detect CWs and long-duration transients from a variety of sources, binary neutron star post-merger signals, gravitational lensing of GWs; applications in cosmology and BSM physics with GW observations, and commissioning and characterization of GW detectors. The UIB team is also a member of the LISA consortium, where A. Heffernan serves as one of the chairs of the waveforms WG and S. Husa leads a work package on efficient waveform models. UIB has also recently joined the new Einstein Telescope (ET) collaboration.

This node, led by Miguel Ardid has been participating in the ANTARES and KM3NeT neutrino telescopes for more than a decade with relevant contributions, both technical and in data analysis. The UPV team has led the latest ANTARES DM analysis in the Sun for both secluded DM and WIMPs. Nowadays, the node PI, M. Ardid, and R. Gozzini (IFIC-Exp) are co-coordinating the WGs related to DM in both collaborations. The plans are the following:

• Perform the DM search analysis from the Sun with the complete sample of ANTARES data, and by introducing the latest improvements (e.g., ML tools).
• Perform analyses on DM searches with partial configurations of KM3NeT detectors. UPV members are starting the DM search in the Galactic center with KM3NeT/ORCA data.
• Work on the estimations of the sensitivity of full KM3NeT detectors for DM searches, incorporating the advances in the reconstruction tools.
• Study other exotic models with ANTARES and KM3NeT (secluded DM, dark photons, etc.).
• Collaborate with the IFIC and UGR nodes in their DM analyses with ANTARES/KM3NeT.

This node’s activities include work along the lines of exploring the nature of DM in the context of dense and opaque astrophysical objects. This includes neutron stars (NSs) and merger (NS-NS and NS-BH) environments. The possible indirect consequences in the emission of multi-messengers in the final states involving processes with DN seem an efficient tool in optimized versions of experiments looking either directly or indirectly for this elusive type of matter. USAL members, led by M. Ángeles Pérez-García, will explore the extra cooling of NSs or excitation of additional modes in the GW patterns, expected in mergers, involving ordinary matter NSs in a local dark environment.

This node, whose PI is María Luisa Sarsa, leads at present two direct DM search experiments at the LSC: ANAIS and TREX-DM. Members of the group also lead the IAXO project, an international effort aiming at detecting solar axions. ANAIS-112 has been taking data at the LSC since 2017 and is at the forefront of international efforts to refute the interpretation of the DAMA/LIBRA results as a DM signal. ANAIS will complete the data taking before the end of this Network and aims at testing the DAMA/LIBRA result at 5-sigma C.L. ANAIS-112 presented results in 2021 and will present soon a re-analysis with an improved sensitivity, enabled by applying ML techniques. TREX-DM is a Neon high-pressure gas TPC, designed to search for low-mass WIMPs at the LSC. Currently, the experiment is being re-commissioned and new upgrades are foreseen derived from several R&D lines, most relevantly the possibility to improve the energy threshold below 100 meV. The IAXO collaboration is facing the construction of the BabyIAXO axion helioscope at DESY. Its technical design report is very advanced and first tendering processes are already taking place.

The UZ team, led by Igor Irastorza, is mostly involved in the detectors. A prototype is in operation in the group’s laboratory, while a second one is being installed at LSC. In addition, UZ members keep important responsibilities in the IAXO collaboration in areas like software, radiopurity, and low background techniques. Also, studies to extend the IAXO physics case with the implementation of axion haloscopes (RF cavities) in the BabyIAXO magnet are being carried out in the context of the RADES project. A conceptual design of this option has been finished, showing a very competitive potential sensitivity to axion DM of 1-2 microeV.

The node PI is M. Dolores Rodríguez Frías, current CLPU director. During the duration of the Network, U3 will explore potential synergies of current CLPU activities, expertise, and equipment with DM research. For instance, lasers are being used for the search of axions by several experiments worldwide. The UAH subnode, led by L. del Peral, has a long expertise in cosmic-ray physics and recently joined CTA, where it will contribute to hardware-related activities and DM science. USC members, led by G. Parente, will provide expertise in cosmic-ray physics and antimatter in a DM context.