Conveners
Parallel Session - Theory/Phenomenology
- Manuel Asorey (Universidad de Zaragoza)
Parallel Session - Theory/Phenomenology
- Sven Heinemeyer (IFT (CSIC, Madrid))
Parallel Session - Theory/Phenomenology
- David Cerdeño (IFT UAM-CSIC)
Parallel Session - Theory/Phenomenology
- Sven Heinemeyer (IFT (CSIC, Madrid))
Parallel Session - Theory/Phenomenology
- Sven Heinemeyer (IFT (CSIC, Madrid))
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Sven Heinemeyer (IFT (CSIC, Madrid))01/06/2026, 11:30Theory & phenoOral presentation
SUSY searches for electroweak (EW) particles at the LHC show consistent excesses between ATLAS and CMS in the channel $pp \to \tilde{\chi}_2^0 \tilde{\chi}_1^\pm \to \tilde{\chi}_1^0 Z^*\,\tilde{\chi}_1^0W^{\pm*}$.
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The preferred mass ranges are $m_{\tilde{\chi}_2^0} \sim m_{\tilde{\chi}_1^\pm}$ with $\Delta m := m_{\tilde{\chi}_2^0} - m_{\tilde{\chi}_1^0} \sim 15-20$ GeV. We show that these... -
Lena Rathmann (KIT)01/06/2026, 11:50Theory & phenoOral presentation
The origin of dark matter and the baryon asymmetry remains one of the central open problems in fundamental physics. Recent work has shown that lepton-flavored dark matter can naturally realize cogenesis of dark matter and baryons via conversion-driven freeze-out, where semi-efficient dark–visible conversions create a departure from equilibrium while thermalization of the dark sector erases any...
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Yi Chung (Institute for Basic Science)01/06/2026, 12:10Theory & phenoOral presentation
The comparable abundances of dark matter and baryons, known as the dark matter–baryon coincidence, call for an explanation that connects the dark sector to the QCD sector. In this talk, I will present a detailed analysis showing why this coincidence is nontrivial and points toward a strongly coupled dark sector with $\mathcal{O}(1)$-GeV asymmetric dark baryons as dark matter. Based on this...
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Daniil Krichevskiy (University of Stavanger)01/06/2026, 12:30Theory & phenoOral presentation
Strongly interacting dark sectors with pseudo–Nambu–Goldstone bosons provide a versatile framework for sub-GeV dark matter. While the original SIMP paradigm emphasises number-changing $3\to2$ processes as the origin of the relic abundance, the phenomenology of pionic dark matter is considerably richer. Depending on the spectrum and couplings, the relic density can instead be controlled by...
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Mathias Becker (University of Padova)01/06/2026, 12:50Theory & phenoOral presentation
We present a new framework (ultra)light dark matter based on a scalar field experiencing boundaries in field space. These boundaries give rise to wallions, excitations whose masses are exponentially suppressed yet radiatively stable. After introducing the basic setup, we will discuss how wallions behave in the early universe, how field-space boundaries can form dynamically, and which probes...
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Halvor Melkild (University of Oslo)01/06/2026, 15:00Theory & phenoOral presentation
The sterile neutrino is a well motivated Dark Matter candidate, but the minimal Dodelson-Widrow production mechanism has been experimentally excluded by searches for X-rays. We are presenting an extension, in which DM consists of sterile neutrinos which are charged under a broken $U(1)'$ symmetry. As long as one sterile neutrino is neutral under $U(1)'$, they will mix with the SM neutrino...
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Cypris Plantier (Laboratoire de Physique Subatomique et de Cosmologie (LPSC))01/06/2026, 15:20Theory & phenoOral presentation
Among the crowd of dark matter candidates, light scalar (axions, ALPs, WIMPs …) and vector particles (dark photons) have been the focus of intense theoretical and experimental investigations over the past 15 years. However, those are always described as scalar or vector fields. Instead, we investigate their embedding as antisymmetric rank-three and rank-two tensor fields. By reconciling...
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Adrian William Romero Jorge (Goethe Frankfurt University/FIAS)01/06/2026, 15:40Theory & phenoOral presentation
We investigate a dark sector coupled to the Standard Model (SM) via a kinetically mixed dark photon $U$ associated with an additional $U(1)'$ gauge symmetry. The kinetic mixing parameter $\varepsilon$ induces an effective coupling to the electromagnetic current, while interactions with a stable dark matter (DM) particle $\chi$ are governed by a dark gauge coupling $g_\chi$, spanning the...
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Álvaro Parra López (University of Oslo)01/06/2026, 16:00Theory & phenoOral presentation
The persistent absence of non-gravitational dark matter signals has increased interest in candidates that interact extremely weakly with the Standard Model—if at all. (Non-perturbative) gravitational particle production provides an unavoidable mechanism for generating such dark matter via the expansion of spacetime. However, predicting the exact relic abundance is subject to significant...
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Xavier Ponce Diaz (University of Basek)01/06/2026, 16:20Theory & phenoOral presentation
The non-trivial flavour structure of t-channel dark matter models with fermion couplings is unavoidably constrained by flavour physics, hinting towards the presence of an underlying flavour symmetry.
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In this talk, I present a systematic study of the low-energy flavour constraints affecting these models from the perspective of flavour symmetries, together with complementary bounds from... -
Theresa Backes (Chalmers University of Technology)01/06/2026, 17:10Theory & phenoOral presentation
Liquid xenon is an important target material in for the direct detection of light dark matter (DM) via electron recoils. Consequently, accurate modeling of the DM-electron interaction in this medium is crucial. In particular, a proper description of the electron final states plays a key role in modeling the electronic response of the detector. We follow a novel approach in which the final...
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Mukesh Kumar Pandey (Department of Physics, Leung Center for Cosmology and Particle Astrophysics, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan)01/06/2026, 17:30Theory & phenoOral presentation
This work presents a comprehensive theoretical investigation of dark matter (DM)–electron interactions using atomic response functions (ARFs), with a focus on Germanium and Xenon—two widely employed detectors in direct detection experiments. Accurately modeling these interactions is essential for interpreting and guiding searches for light dark matter candidates, particularly in scenarios...
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Branden Aitken (University of Victoria)01/06/2026, 17:50Theory & phenoOral presentation
The null results in direct detection motivate the exploration of a broader mass range for thermal relic dark matter (DM) candidates. An intuitive new place to extend these models is to consider masses in the MeV to GeV range. One way to do this and avoid bounds from the Cosmic Microwave Background is to introduce a dark sector consisting of a dark mediator and stable DM candidate.
In...
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Marcos Flores (University of Oslo)01/06/2026, 18:10Theory & phenoOral presentation
Unitarity imposes strict bounds on elastic and inelastic partial-wave cross sections. However, state-of-the-art calculations, motivated by dark-matter phenomenology, can exhibit substantial violations of partial-wave unitarity, with potentially significant consequences for phenomenological predictions.
In this talk, I present a new, model-independent formalism that restores unitarity...
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Dimitrios Papoulias (University of Hamburg)03/06/2026, 15:00Theory & phenoOral presentation
Sub-GeV dark matter interacting with the Standard Model through vector mediators is well motivated but remains challenging for conventional direct detection experiments. We study the sensitivity of future coherent elastic neutrino–nucleus scattering experiments at spallation neutron sources to light dark matter produced in neutral pion decays. We consider scalar dark matter interacting through...
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Helena Kolesova (University of Stavanger)03/06/2026, 15:20Theory & phenoOral presentation
Direct detection experiments traditionally search for nuclear recoils induced by coherent elastic scattering of halo dark matter particles. This mechanism, however, becomes inefficient for sub-GeV dark matter unless the particles are boosted by astrophysical processes or some other mechanism. In this contribution, we point out that accelerated dark matter interacts with nuclei not only via...
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Michela Sestu (Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare - Sezione di Cagliari)03/06/2026, 15:40Theory & phenoOral presentation
Beyond the primary objective of discovering dark matter, direct detection experiments are rapidly emerging as highly effective tools for the study of neutrinos, acting as competitive probes of low-energy interactions with both nuclei and electrons. The XENONnT and PandaX-4T collaborations have recently reported the first evidence of coherent elastic neutrino–nucleus scattering (CEνNS) from...
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Jose Manuel Alarcón (Universidad de Alcalá)03/06/2026, 16:00Theory & phenoOral presentation
The scalar coupling of the nucleon is a crucial quantity in theoretical studies of direct detection of dark matter. The expected event rates in these analyses are very sensitive to these hadronic matrix elements and an accurate determination is necessary in order to interpret the experimental results and constrain the different dark matter models. In this talk, I will show the current...
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Oleg Lebedev (University of Helsinki)03/06/2026, 16:20Theory & phenoOral presentation
I review the concept of dark matter freeze-in at stronger coupling. It assumes that the Standard Model (SM) bath temperature has never been high, which allows for a significant coupling between dark matter and the SM, without thermalization. As a result, this class of freeze-in models can be probed via direct DM detection and at colliders. The framework also allows for observable warm dark...
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Michael A. Fedderke (Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics)04/06/2026, 15:00Theory & phenoOral presentation
Compact supermassive dark-matter (DM) states act as gravitational lenses. Widely spatially separated space-based gamma-ray detectors would observe geometrical parallax of such an intervening lens with respect to cosmologically distant gamma-ray bursts (GRB). This parallax can be of order the Einstein angle of the lens, resulting in a significant differential magnification of the source as...
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Leonardo Badurina (Caltech)04/06/2026, 15:20Theory & phenoOral presentation
In this talk, I will present two novel theoretical ideas to search for dark matter (DM) across qualitatively distinct regions of model space with a genuine quantum sensing technique: matter-wave interferometry. I will begin by presenting new theoretical work establishing the in-in (Schwinger-Keldysh) formalism as the natural language for matter-wave interferometry, e.g., demonstrating how it...
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John Carlton (DESY)04/06/2026, 15:40Theory & phenoOral presentation
The development of high-precision quantum sensors is an exciting prospect for all branches of science and metrology. Chief among these are their applications in astroparticle phenomenology from detection of gravitational waves to illuminating the nature of dark matter. Studies naturally concentrate on the simplest models of new physics phenomena - scalar fields with linear couplings in the...
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Pablo Figueroa (Instituto de Física Corpuscular, UV-CSIC)04/06/2026, 16:00Theory & phenoOral presentation
We consider a QCD-like theory with two light flavours, in which the DM candidate is a dark neutron. In this scenario, a non-vanishing theta angle triggers velocity-dependent self-interactions with dark pions acting as light mediators. By further considering a dark photon portal to the SM, direct-detection experiments probe CP violation via magnetic- and electric- dipole-mediated scatterings...
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