Javier F. Acevedo

All Publications

• Evaporation Barrier for Dark Matter in Celestial Bodies Acevedo, J., Leane, R., Smirnov, J. arXiv e-print. 2023 20

  Abstract

  The minimum testable dark matter (DM) mass for almost all DM signatures in celestial bodies is determined by the rate at which DM evaporates. DM evaporation has previously been calculated assuming a competition between the gravitational potential of the object, and thermal kicks from the celestial-body matter. We point out a new effect, where mediators with a range larger than the interparticle spacing induce a force proportional to the density gradient of celestial objects, forming an evaporation barrier for the DM. This effect can be so significant that evaporation does not occur even for sub-MeV DM, in stark contrast to previous calculations. This opens up a wide range of new light DM searches, many orders of magnitude in DM mass below the sensitivity of direct detection.

  arXiv e-print: 2303.01516
• Milky Way White Dwarfs as Sub-GeV to Multi-TeV Dark Matter Detectors Acevedo, J. F., Leane, R. K., Santos-Olmsted, L. arXiv. 2023 29
• Warming nuclear pasta with dark matter: kinetic and annihilation heating of neutron star crusts JOURNAL OF COSMOLOGY AND ASTROPARTICLE PHYSICS Acevedo, J. F., Bramante, J., Leane, R. K., Raj, N. 2020

  View details for DOI 10.1088/1475-7516/2020/03/038

  View details for Web of Science ID 000528029100039

• Sub-MHz Radio Background from Ultralight Dark Photon Dark Matter Acevedo, J. F., Bhoonah, A., Cheng, K. Arxiv. 2025 10

  Abstract

  Dark photons are a well-motivated candidate for dark matter, but their detection becomes challenging for ultralight masses with both experimental and astrophysical probes. In this work, we propose a new approach to explore this regime through the dark inverse Compton scattering of ultralight dark photons with cosmic ray electrons and positrons. We show this process generates a potentially observable background radiation that is most prominent at frequencies below MHz. We compute this effect using the latest cosmic ray models and radio absorption maps. Comparing it to observations of the Milky Way's radio spectrum from Explorer 43, Radio Astronomy Explorer 2, and the Parker Solar Probe, we place leading constraints on the kinetic mixing of dark photon dark matter for masses ≲2×10−17 eV.

  arxiv:2501.01489
• Dark Matter Raining on DUNE and Other Large Volume Detectors Acevedo, J. F., Berger, J., Denton, P. Arxiv. 2024 28

  Abstract

  Direct detection is a powerful means of searching for particle physics evidence of dark matter (DM) heavier than about a GeV with O(kiloton)O(kiloton) volume, low-threshold detectors. In many scenarios, some fraction of the DM may be boosted to large velocities enhancing and generally modifying possible detection signatures. We investigate the scenario where 100% of the DM is boosted at the Earth due to new attractive long-range forces. This leads to two main improvements in detection capabilities: 1) the large boost allows for detectable signatures of DM well below a GeV at large-volume neutrino detectors, such as DUNE, Super-K, Hyper-K, and JUNO, as possible DM detectors, and 2) the flux at the Earth's surface is enhanced by a focusing effect. In addition, the model leads to a significant anisotropy in the signal with the DM flowing dominantly vertically at the Earth's surface instead of the typical approximately isotropic DM signal. We develop the theory behind this model and also calculate realistic constraints using a detailed GENIE simulation of the signal inside detectors.

  arXiv:2407.01670
• Loosely Bound Composite Dark Matter Acevedo, J. F., Boukhtouchen, Y., Bramante, J., Mohlabeng, G., Cappiello, C., Tyagi, N. Arxiv. 2024 12

  Abstract

  We investigate loosely bound composite states made of dark matter, where the binding energy for constituent particles is less than the constituent mass. We focus on models of nuclear and molecular dark matter, where constituents are separated by length scales larger than the inverse constituent mass, just like nuclei and atoms in the Standard Model. The cosmology, structure, and interactions at underground experiments are described. We find that loosely bound composites can have a very large cross section for scattering with nuclei that scales with nucleon number like ∼A^4. For some couplings, these composites produce extremely soft (≪ keV) individual atomic recoils while depositing a large amount of total recoil energy (≫ keV) in a single passage through a detector, implying an interesting new class of signatures for low threshold direct detection.

  arXiv:2408.03983
• Dark Kinetic Heating of Exoplanets and Brown Dwarfs Acevedo, J. F., Leane, R. K., Reilly, A. J. Arxiv. 2024 24

  Abstract

  Dark kinetic heating of neutron stars has been previously studied as a promising dark matter detection avenue. Kinetic heating occurs when dark matter is sped up to relativistic speeds in the gravitational well of high-escape velocity objects, and deposits kinetic energy after becoming captured by the object, thereby increasing its temperature. We show that dark kinetic heating can be significant even in objects with low-escape velocities, such as exoplanets and brown dwarfs, increasing the discovery potential of such searches. This can occur if there is a long-range dark force, creating a "dark escape velocity", leading to heating rates substantially larger than those expected from neutron stars. We consequently set constraints on dark sector parameters using Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer and JWST data on Super-Jupiter WISE 0855-0714, and map out future sensitivity to the dark matter scattering cross section below 10−40 cm2. We compare dark kinetic heating rates of other lower escape velocity objects such as the Earth, Sun, and white dwarfs, finding complementary kinetic heating signals are possible depending on particle physics parameters.

  arXiv:2405.02393
• Old rocks, new limits: excavated ancient mica searches for dark matter JOURNAL OF COSMOLOGY AND ASTROPARTICLE PHYSICS Acevedo, J. F., Bramante, J., Goodman, A. 2023

  View details for DOI 10.1088/1475-7516/2023/11/085

  View details for Web of Science ID 001121623400008

• Dark Matter-Induced Baryonic Feedback in Galaxies Acevedo, J. F., Boukhtouchen, Y., An, H., Bramante, J., Richardson, M., Sansom, L. arXiv. 2023 17
• Mineral Detection of Neutrinos and Dark Matter. A whitepaper arXiv Baum, S., et al 2023: 113

  View details for DOI 10.48550/arXiv.2301.07118

• ino and Gamma-Ray Signatures of Inelastic Dark Matter Annihilating outside Neutron StarsNeutr arXiv Acevedo, J. F., et al 2023: 19

  View details for DOI 10.48550/arXiv.2404.10039

• Accelerating composite dark matter discovery with nuclear recoils and the Migdal effect PHYSICAL REVIEW D Acevedo, J. F., Bramante, J., Goodman, A. 2022; 105 (2)

  View details for DOI 10.1103/PhysRevD.105.023012

  View details for Web of Science ID 000743871300006

• Diffuse x-ray and gamma-ray limits on boson stars that interact with nuclei Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics Acevedo, J. F., Bhoonah, A., Bramante, J. 2022

  View details for DOI 10.1088/1475-7516/2022/12/031

• Nuclear fusion inside dark matter PHYSICAL REVIEW D Acevedo, J. F., Bramante, J., Goodman, A. 2021; 103 (12)

  View details for DOI 10.1103/PhysRevD.103.123022

  View details for Web of Science ID 000664530200004

• Dark matter, destroyer of worlds: neutrino, thermal, and existential signatures from black holes in the Sun and Earth JOURNAL OF COSMOLOGY AND ASTROPARTICLE PHYSICS Acevedo, J. F., Bramante, J., Goodman, A., Kopp, J., Opferkuch, T. 2021

  View details for DOI 10.1088/1475-7516/2021/04/026

  View details for Web of Science ID 000644501000001

• Supernovae sparked by dark matter in white dwarfs PHYSICAL REVIEW D Acevedo, J. F., Bramante, J. 2019; 100 (4)

  View details for DOI 10.1103/PhysRevD.100.043020

  View details for Web of Science ID 000482088100001

• Front propagation dynamics: Qualitative differences revealed by very high intensity fluctuations PHYSICAL REVIEW E Mangioni, S. E., Fernandez Acevedo, J. 2018; 98 (5)

  View details for DOI 10.1103/PhysRevE.98.052213

  View details for Web of Science ID 000450141800003

• Limiting the stroke of a Schmitt trigger with multiplicative noise PHYSICAL REVIEW E Zarza, G. A., Mangioni, S. E., Fernandez Acevedo, J., Deza, R. R. 2017; 95 (5): 052143

  Abstract

  We have devised an experiment whereby a bistable system is confined away from its deterministic attractors by means of multiplicative noise. Together with previous numerical results, our experimental results validate the hypothesis that the higher the slope of the noise's multiplicative factor, the more it shifts the stationary states.

  View details for DOI 10.1103/PhysRevE.95.052143

  View details for Web of Science ID 000402019600005

  View details for PubMedID 28618519