Constraining a Thin Dark Matter Disk with Gaia

TL;DR

This paper uses Gaia data to search for a thin dark matter disk in the Milky Way, providing new constraints that challenge its existence and updating local matter density measurements.

Contribution

First Gaia data analysis to constrain the presence of a thin dark matter disk using stellar kinematics in the Milky Way.

Findings

Limits disfavor the existence of a thin dark matter disk.

Updated measurements of total matter density in the Solar neighborhood.

Constraints improve previous bounds on dark disk properties.

Abstract

If a component of the dark matter has dissipative interactions, it could collapse to form a thin dark disk in our Galaxy that is coplanar with the baryonic disk. It has been suggested that dark disks could explain a variety of observed phenomena, including periodic comet impacts. Using the first data release from the $Gaia$ space observatory, we search for a dark disk via its effect on stellar kinematics in the Milky Way. Our new limits disfavor the presence of a thin dark matter disk, and we present updated measurements on the total matter density in the Solar neighborhood.