Kavli Affiliate: Lina Necib
| First 5 Authors: Xiuyuan Zhang, Lina Necib, Denis Erkal, ,
| Summary:
Low-mass dark matter (DM) subhalos are pivotal in understanding the
small-scale structure of the universe, thereby offering a sensitive method to
discriminate between different cosmological models. In this study, we estimate
the local number density of cold DM subhalos in the solar neighborhood, and
demonstrate that their sparse distribution makes their detection via direct
detection experiments highly improbable. However, it is plausible to expect
that an $mathcal{O}(1)$ number of subhalos could be detected by
Paleo-detectors, a proposed new technique to look for DM by reading out damage
tracks left by past DM interactions in minerals, due to their extended exposure
times. Hence, we explore how Paleo-detectors can serve as effective probes for
the properties of low-mass subhalos, $mathcal{O}(10^{-5}-10^8) M_{odot}$. We
find that Paleo-detectors might be able to constrain certain regions of the
subhalo mass-concentration relation (for subhalo masses of $10-10^4 M_odot$ if
DM has a mass of $sim5$GeV). This is a new and complementary type of study
that seeks to combine information from the particle nature of DM to that of
small scale structures.
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