A Model-Independent Radio Telescope Dark Matter Search in the L and S Bands

TL;DR

This paper presents a novel, model-independent radio telescope search for ultralight bosonic dark matter in the L and S bands, focusing on detecting characteristic Doppler-shifted signals consistent with Milky Way halo properties.

Contribution

The study develops and applies a new model-independent method to search for dark matter signals in radio frequencies, excluding certain annihilation and decay rates.

Findings

Excluded dark matter annihilation cross-section above ~10^{-30} cm^3 s^{-1}.

Excluded dark matter decay rate above ~10^{-32} s^{-1}.

Performed the first model-independent radio search in the 1020-2700 MHz range.

Abstract

Ultralight bosonic dark matter in its most general form can be detected through its decay or annihilation to a quasimonochromatic radio line. Assuming only that this line is consistent with the most general properties of the expected phase space of our Milky Way halo, we have developed and carried out a novel model-independent search for dark matter in the L and S bands. More specifically, the search selects for a line that exhibits a Doppler shift with position according to the solar motion through a static halo and similarly varies in intensity with position with respect to the galactic center. Over the combined L- and S-band range 1020 - 2700 MHz, radiative annihilation of dark matter is excluded above $\langle\sigma v\rangle \approx 10^{-30} \text{ cm}^3 \text{ s}^{-1}$, and for decay above $\lambda \approx 10^{-32} \text{ s}^{-1}$.