Particle Dark Matter Constraints: the Effect of Galactic Uncertainties

TL;DR

This paper systematically quantifies how astrophysical uncertainties in our Galaxy affect the constraints on particle physics models of dark matter, highlighting the importance of including these uncertainties in analyses.

Contribution

It provides a quantitative assessment of Galactic uncertainties' impact on dark matter model parameters, using two specific Standard Model extensions as case studies.

Findings

Galactic uncertainties significantly influence dark matter parameter constraints.

Current astrophysical uncertainties can alter the interpretation of dark matter searches.

Systematic inclusion of these uncertainties is crucial for realistic model constraints.

Abstract

Collider, space, and Earth based experiments are now able to probe several extensions of the Standard Model of particle physics which provide viable dark matter candidates. Direct and indirect dark matter searches rely on inputs of astrophysical nature, such as the local dark matter density or the shape of the dark matter profile in the target in object. The determination of these quantities is highly affected by astrophysical uncertainties. The latter, especially those for our own Galaxy, are ill-known, and often not fully accounted for when analyzing the phenomenology of particle physics models. In this paper we present a systematic, quantitative estimate of how astrophysical uncertainties on Galactic quantities (such as the local galactocentric distance, circular velocity, or the morphology of the stellar disk and bulge) propagate to the determination of the phenomenology of particle physics models, thus eventually affecting the determination of new physics parameters. We present results in the context of two specific extensions of the Standard Model (the Singlet Scalar and the Inert Doublet) that we adopt as case studies for their simplicity in illustrating the magnitude and impact of such uncertainties on the parameter space of the particle physics model itself. Our findings point toward very relevant effects of current Galactic uncertainties on the determination of particle physics parameters, and urge a systematic estimate of such uncertainties in more complex scenarios, in order to achieve constraints on the determination of new physics that realistically include all known uncertainties.