Exotic physics in the sky: light dark matter and superconducting strings
Francesc Ferrer (Case Physics)
The foremost candidate for the cold dark matter composing galactic
haloes is the neutralino, which in models with an extended Higgs sector can
be naturally very light and difficult to discover by direct dark matter
detection experiments. Indirect detection rates, however, are generically
larger with respect to the standard case. We explore the expected signals
in neutrino telescopes, and in space-based gamma-ray and antimatter search
experiments. Although a neutralino in the MeV mass range could also account
for the 511 KeV emission from the Galactic Center, measurements of the
diffuse radiation disfavor this scenario. Alternatively, we will show that
a network of superconducting cosmic strings can be at the origin of the
required positron flux.
