High Mass Dark Matter Searches With the High Speed Flux From the Large Magellanic Cloud

TL;DR

This paper emphasizes the importance of accurate dark matter velocity modeling, considering the Large Magellanic Cloud's influence, to improve heavy dark matter detection strategies and bounds from cosmic ray and monopole searches.

Contribution

It introduces new computational methods for flux calculation and highlights the impact of the Large Magellanic Cloud on heavy dark matter search results.

Findings

LMC significantly affects dark matter flux estimates.

New computational techniques improve flux and detector response accuracy.

Heavy dark matter bounds are altered when accounting for LMC dynamics.

Abstract

As the hunt for dark matter progresses, recently there have been advances in the search for heavy dark matter with a mass well above a TeV. We show the importance of properly modeling the local dark matter velocity distribution, beyond the standard Maxwellian halo model, and in particular how the dynamics of the Large Magellanic Cloud and Milky Way may impact heavy dark matter searches. We introduce some new computational techniques for accurately computing the dark matter flux and the associated detector response. As a specific example, we examine the effect of the Large Magellanic Cloud on heavy dark matter bounds obtained from experiments searching for cosmic rays and magnetic monopoles using plastic etch detectors at the Ohya Mine and aboard the Skylab Space Station.