Speaker
Marianne Moore
(MIT)
Description
We investigate dark matter capture and annihilation in the Solar System's giant planets, leading to ionization in their atmospheres. Using UV spectrum data from spaceprobe flybys observing the nightside of these planets, we avoid contamination coming from solar reflection. We find an enhanced sensitivity for dark matter masses below 1 GeV, particularly for spin-independent and proton spin-dependent scattering cross sections, surpassing current direct detection experiments, and reaching down to about $10^{-40}$ cm$^2$. Our results highlight planetary spectroscopy as a complementary approach to probing dark matter properties.
Primary author
Marianne Moore
(MIT)
