Rebecca K Leane

All Publications

• Dark Matter halo parameters from overheated exoplanets via Bayesian hierarchical inference JOURNAL OF COSMOLOGY AND ASTROPARTICLE PHYSICS Benito, M., Karchev, K., Leane, R. K., Poder, S., Smirnov, J., Trotta, R. 2024

  View details for DOI 10.1088/1475-7516/2024/07/038

  View details for Web of Science ID 001272000000002

• Search for Dark Matter Ionization on the Night Side of Jupiter with Cassini. Physical review letters Blanco, C., Leane, R. K. 2024; 132 (26): 261002

  Abstract

  We present a new search for dark matter (DM) using planetary atmospheres. We point out that annihilating DM in planets can produce ionizing radiation, which can lead to excess production of ionospheric H_{3}^{+}. We apply this search strategy to the night side of Jupiter near the equator. The night side has zero solar irradiation, and low latitudes are sufficiently far from ionizing auroras, leading to a low-background search. We use Cassini data on ionospheric H_{3}^{+} emission collected three hours either side of Jovian midnight, during its flyby in 2000, and set novel constraints on the DM-nucleon scattering cross section down to about 10^{-38}  cm^{2}. We also highlight that DM atmospheric ionization may be detected in Jovian exoplanets using future high-precision measurements of planetary spectra.

  View details for DOI 10.1103/PhysRevLett.132.261002

  View details for PubMedID 38996293

• Search for Dark Matter Ionization on the Night Side of Jupiter with Cassini PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS Blanco, C., Leane, R. K. 2024; 132 (26)

  View details for DOI 10.1103/PhysRevLett.132.261002

  View details for Web of Science ID 001262675300006

• Dark matter scattering constraints from observations of stars surrounding Sgr A* PHYSICAL REVIEW D John, I., Leane, R. K., Linden, T. 2024; 109 (12)

  View details for DOI 10.1103/PhysRevD.109.123041

  View details for Web of Science ID 001260825500008

• Evaporation barrier for dark matter in celestial bodies JOURNAL OF COSMOLOGY AND ASTROPARTICLE PHYSICS Acevedo, J. F., Leane, R. K., Smirnov, J. 2024

  View details for DOI 10.1088/1475-7516/2024/04/038

  View details for Web of Science ID 001205794100008

• Dark Matter Induced Power in Quantum Devices. Physical review letters Das, A., Kurinsky, N., Leane, R. K. 2024; 132 (12): 121801

  Abstract

  We point out that power measurements of single quasiparticle devices open a new avenue to detect dark matter (DM). The threshold of these devices is set by the Cooper pair binding energy, and is therefore so low that they can detect DM as light as about an MeV incoming from the Galactic halo, as well as the low-velocity thermalized DM component potentially present in the Earth. Using existing power measurements with these new devices, as well as power measurements with SuperCDMS-CPD, we set new constraints on the spin-independent DM scattering cross section for DM masses from about 10 MeV to 10 GeV. We outline future directions to improve sensitivity to both halo DM and a thermalized DM population in the Earth using power deposition in quantum devices.

  View details for DOI 10.1103/PhysRevLett.132.121801

  View details for PubMedID 38579214

• Milky Way white dwarfs as sub-GeV to multi-TeV dark matter detectors JOURNAL OF COSMOLOGY AND ASTROPARTICLE PHYSICS Acevedo, J. F., Leane, R. K., Santos-Olmsted, L. 2024

  View details for DOI 10.1088/1475-7516/2024/03/042

  View details for Web of Science ID 001192647800001

• Dark matter capture in celestial objects: treatment across kinematic and interaction regimes JOURNAL OF COSMOLOGY AND ASTROPARTICLE PHYSICS Leane, R. K., Smirnov, J. 2023

  View details for DOI 10.1088/1475-7516/2023/12/040

  View details for Web of Science ID 001156562700005

• Snowmass2021 cosmic frontier white paper: Ultraheavy particle dark matter SCIPOST PHYSICS CORE Carney, D., Raj, N., Bai, Y., Berger, J., Blanco, C., Bramante, J., Cappiello, C., Dutra, M., Ebadi, R., Engel, K., Kolb, E., Harding, J., Kumar, J., Krnjaic, G., Lang, R. F., Leane, R. K., Lehmann, B., Li, S., Long, A. J., Mohlabeng, G., Olcina, I., Pueschel, E., Rodd, N. L., Rott, C., Sengupta, D., Shakya, B., Walsworth, R. L., Westerdale, S. 2023; 6 (4)

  View details for DOI 10.21468/SciPostPhysCore.6.4.075

  View details for Web of Science ID 001099148000001

• First Analysis of Jupiter in Gamma Rays and a New Search for Dark Matter. Physical review letters Leane, R. K., Linden, T. 2023; 131 (7): 071001

  Abstract

  We present the first dedicated γ-ray analysis of Jupiter, using 12 years of data from the Fermi Telescope. We find no robust evidence of γ-ray emission, and set upper limits of ∼10^{-9}  GeV cm^{-2} s^{-1} on the Jovian γ-ray flux. We point out that Jupiter is an advantageous dark matter (DM) target due to its large surface area (compared with other solar system planets), and cool core temperature (compared with the Sun). These properties allow Jupiter to both capture and retain lighter DM, providing a complementary probe of sub-GeV DM. We therefore identify and perform a new search for DM-sourced γ-rays in Jupiter, where DM annihilates to long-lived particles, which can escape the Jovian surface and decay into γ rays. We consequently constrain DM-proton scattering cross sections as low as about 10^{-40}  cm^{2}, showing Jupiter is up to 10 orders of magnitude more sensitive than direct detection. This sensitivity is reached under the assumption that the mediator decay length is sufficient to escape Jupiter, and the equilibrium between DM capture and annihilation; sensitivities can be lower depending on the DM model. Our work motivates follow-up studies with upcoming MeV telescopes such as AMEGO and e-ASTROGAM.

  View details for DOI 10.1103/PhysRevLett.131.071001

  View details for PubMedID 37656854

• New approaches to dark matter detection NATURE REVIEWS PHYSICS Hochberg, Y., Kahn, Y. E., Leane, R. K., Rajendran, S., Van Tilburg, K., Yu, T., Zurek, K. M. 2022

  View details for DOI 10.1038/s42254-022-00509-4

  View details for Web of Science ID 000854714000001

• Snowmass2021 theory frontier white paper: Astrophysical and cosmological probes of dark matter JOURNAL OF HIGH ENERGY ASTROPHYSICS Boddy, K. K., Lisanti, M., McDermott, S. D., Rodd, N. L., Weniger, C., Ali-Haimoud, Y., Buschmann, M., Cholis, I., Croon, D., Erickcek, A. L., Gluscevic, V., Leane, R. K., Mishra-Sharma, S., Munoz, J. B., Nadler, E. O., Natarajan, P., Price-Whelan, A., Vegetti, S., Witte, S. J. 2022; 35: 112-138

  View details for DOI 10.1016/j.jheap.2022.06.005

  View details for Web of Science ID 000829312600004

• Tidal Love numbers of novel and admixed celestial objects Physical Review D Collier, M., Croon, D., Leane, R. K. 2022

  View details for DOI 10.1103/PhysRevD.106.123027

• Celestial-body focused dark matter annihilation throughout the Galaxy PHYSICAL REVIEW D Leane, R. K., Linden, T., Mukhopadhyay, P., Toro, N. 2021; 103 (7)

  View details for DOI 10.1103/PhysRevD.103.075030

  View details for Web of Science ID 000648581600007

• Exoplanets as Sub-GeV Dark Matter Detectors PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS Leane, R. K., Smirnov, J. 2021; 126 (16): 161101

  Abstract

  We present exoplanets as new targets to discover dark matter (DM). Throughout the Milky Way, DM can scatter, become captured, deposit annihilation energy, and increase the heat flow within exoplanets. We estimate upcoming infrared telescope sensitivity to this scenario, finding actionable discovery or exclusion searches. We find that DM with masses above about an MeV can be probed with exoplanets, with DM-proton and DM-electron scattering cross sections down to about 10^{-37}  cm^{2}, stronger than existing limits by up to six orders of magnitude. Supporting evidence of a DM origin can be identified through DM-induced exoplanet heating correlated with galactic position, and hence DM density. This provides new motivation to measure the temperature of the billions of brown dwarfs, rogue planets, and gas giants peppered throughout our Galaxy.

  View details for DOI 10.1103/PhysRevLett.126.161101

  View details for Web of Science ID 000652829600002

  View details for PubMedID 33961477

• Supernova Muons: New Constraints on Z ' Bosons, Axions and ALPs JOURNAL OF HIGH ENERGY PHYSICS Croon, D., Elor, G., Leane, R. K., McDermott, S. D. 2021

  View details for DOI 10.1007/JHEP01(2021)107

  View details for Web of Science ID 000612389500002

• Spurious Point Source Signals in the Galactic Center Excess PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS Leane, R. K., Slatyer, T. R. 2020; 125 (12): 121105

  Abstract

  We reexamine evidence that the Galactic Center Excess (GCE) originates primarily from point sources (PSs). We show that in our region of interest, non-Poissonian template fitting evidence for GCE PSs is an artifact of unmodeled north-south asymmetry of the GCE. This asymmetry is strongly favored by the fit (although it is unclear if this is physical), and when it is allowed, the preference for PSs becomes insignificant. We reproduce this behavior in simulations, including detailed properties of the spurious PS population. We conclude that the non-Poissonian template fitting evidence for GCE PSs is highly susceptible to certain systematic errors and should not at present be taken to robustly disfavor a dominantly smooth GCE.

  View details for DOI 10.1103/PhysRevLett.125.121105

  View details for Web of Science ID 000569641300004

  View details for PubMedID 33016744

• The enigmatic Galactic Center excess: Spurious point sources and signal mismodeling PHYSICAL REVIEW D Leane, R. K., Slatyer, T. R. 2020; 102 (6)

  View details for DOI 10.1103/PhysRevD.102.063019

  View details for Web of Science ID 000569631500004

• A systematic study of hidden sector dark matter: application to the gamma-ray and antiproton excesses JOURNAL OF HIGH ENERGY PHYSICS Hooper, D., Leane, R. K., Tsai, Y., Wegsman, S., Witte, S. J. 2020

  View details for DOI 10.1007/JHEP07(2020)163

  View details for Web of Science ID 000555828300002

• 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

• Revival of the Dark Matter Hypothesis for the Galactic Center Gamma-Ray Excess PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS Leane, R. K., Slatyer, T. R. 2019; 123 (24): 241101

  Abstract

  Statistical evidence has previously suggested that the galactic center GeV excess (GCE) originates largely from point sources, and not from annihilating dark matter. We examine the impact of unmodeled source populations on identifying the true origin of the GCE using non-Poissonian template fitting (NPTF) methods. In a proof-of-principle example with simulated data, we discover that unmodeled sources in the Fermi bubbles can lead to a dark matter signal being misattributed to point sources by the NPTF. We discover striking behavior consistent with a mismodeling effect in the real Fermi data, finding that large artificial injected dark matter signals are completely misattributed to point sources. Consequently, we conclude that dark matter may provide a dominant contribution to the GCE after all.

  View details for DOI 10.1103/PhysRevLett.123.241101

  View details for Web of Science ID 000502130400001

  View details for PubMedID 31922851

• Constraints on spin-dependent dark matter scattering with long-lived mediators from TeV observations of the Sun with HAWC PHYSICAL REVIEW D Albert, A., Alfaro, R., Alvarez, C., Arceo, R., Arteaga-Velazquez, J. C., Avila Rojas, D., Solares, H., Belmont-Moreno, E., Benzvi, S. Y., Brisbois, C., Caballero-Mora, K. S., Capistran, T., Carraminana, A., Casanova, S., Castillo, M., Cotzomi, J., Coutino de Leon, S., De Leon, C., De la Fuente, E., Dichiara, S., Dingus, B. L., DuVernois, M. A., Diaz-Velez, J. C., Engel, K., Enriquez-Rivera, O., Espinoza, C., Fleischhack, H., Fraija, N., Garcia-Gonzalez, J. A., Garfias, F., Gonzalez, M. M., Goodman, J. A., Hampel-Arias, Z., Harding, J. P., Hernandez, S., Hona, B., Hueyotl-Zahuantitla, F., Huntemeyer, P., Iriarte, A., Jardin-Blicq, A., Joshi, Kaufmann, S., Leon Vargas, H., Luis-Raya, G., Lundeen, J., Lopez-Coto, R., Malone, K., Marinelli, S. S., Martinez, O., Martinez-Castellanos, Martinez-Castro, J., Miranda-Romagnoli, P., Moreno, E., Mostafa, M., Nayerhoda, A., Nellen, L., Newbold, M., Nisa, M. U., Noriega-Papaqui, R., Pretz, J., Perez-Perez, E. G., Ren, Z., Rho, C. D., Riviere, C., Rosa-Gonzalez, D., Rosenberg, M., Ruiz-Velasco, E., Salazar, H., Greus, F., Sandoval, A., Schneider, M., Arroyo, M., Sinnis, G., Smith, A. J., Springer, R. W., Surajbali, P., Taboada, Tibolla, O., Tollefson, K., Torres, Villasenor, L., Weisgarber, T., Westerhoff, S., Wisher, I. G., Wood, J., Yapici, T., Zepeda, A., Zhou, H., Alvarez, J. D., Beacom, J. F., Leane, R. K., Linden, T., Ng, K. Y., Peter, A. G., Zhou, B., HAWC Collaboration 2018; 98 (12)

  View details for DOI 10.1103/PhysRevD.98.123012

  View details for Web of Science ID 000453470100003

• First HAWC observations of the Sun constrain steady TeV gamma-ray emission PHYSICAL REVIEW D Albert, A., Alfaro, R., Alvarez, C., Arceo, R., Arteaga-Velazquez, J. C., Avila Rojas, D., Solares, H., Belmont-Moreno, E., BenZvi, S. Y., Brisbois, C., Caballero-Mora, K. S., Capistran, T., Carraminana, A., Casanova, S., Castillo, M., Cotzomi, J., Coutino de Leon, S., De Leon, C., De la Fuente, E., Dichiara, S., Dingus, B. L., DuVernois, M. A., Diaz-Velez, J. C., Engel, K., Enriquez-Rivera, O., Espinoza, C., Fleischhack, H., Fraija, N., Garcia-Gonzalez, J. A., Garfias, F., Gonzalez, M. M., Goodman, J. A., Hampel-Arias, Z., Harding, J. P., Hernandez, S., Hona, B., Hueyotl-Zahuantitla, F., Huntemeyer, P., Iriarte, A., Jardin-Blicq, A., Joshi, Kaufmann, S., Vargas, H., Luis-Raya, G., Lundeen, J., Lopez-Coto, R., Malone, K., Marinelli, S. S., Martinez, O., Martinez-Castellanos, Martinez-Castro, J., Miranda-Romagnoli, P., Moreno, E., Mostafa, M., Nayerhoda, A., Nellen, L., Newbold, M., Nisa, M. U., Noriega-Papaqui, R., Pretz, J., Perez-Perez, E. G., Ren, Z., Rho, C. D., Riviere, C., Rosa-Gonzalez, D., Rosenberg, M., Ruiz-Velasco, E., Salazar, H., Greus, F., Sandoval, A., Schneider, M., Schoorlemmer, H., Arroyo, M., Sinnis, G., Smith, A. J., Springer, R. W., Surajbali, P., Taboada, Tibolla, O., Tollefson, K., Torres, Villasenor, L., Weisgarber, T., Westerhoff, S., Wisher, I. G., Wood, J., Yapici, T., Zepeda, A., Zhou, H., Alvarez, J. D., Beacom, J. F., Leane, R. K., Linden, T., Ng, K. Y., Peter, A. G., Zhou, B., HAWC Collaboration 2018; 98 (12)

  View details for DOI 10.1103/PhysRevD.98.123011

  View details for Web of Science ID 000453470100002

• GeV-scale thermal WIMPs: Not even slightly ruled out PHYSICAL REVIEW D Leane, R. K., Slatyer, T. R., Beacom, J. F., Ng, K. Y. 2018; 98 (2)

  View details for DOI 10.1103/PhysRevD.98.023016

  View details for Web of Science ID 000439064300002

• Enhancing dark matter annihilation rates with dark bremsstrahlung PHYSICAL REVIEW D Bell, N. F., Cai, Y., Dent, J. B., Leane, R. K., Weiler, T. J. 2017; 96 (2)

  View details for DOI 10.1103/PhysRevD.96.023011

  View details for Web of Science ID 000406309400001

• Powerful solar signatures of long-lived dark mediators PHYSICAL REVIEW D Leane, R. K., Ng, K. Y., Beacom, J. F. 2017; 95 (12)

  View details for DOI 10.1103/PhysRevD.95.123016

  View details for Web of Science ID 000404475200002

• Impact of mass generation for spin-1 mediator simplified models JOURNAL OF COSMOLOGY AND ASTROPARTICLE PHYSICS Bell, N. F., Cai, Y., Leane, R. K. 2017

  View details for DOI 10.1088/1475-7512/2017/01/039

  View details for Web of Science ID 000399409800039

• Dark forces in the sky: signals from Z ' and the dark Higgs JOURNAL OF COSMOLOGY AND ASTROPARTICLE PHYSICS Bell, N. F., Cai, Y., Leane, R. K. 2016

  View details for DOI 10.1088/1475-7516/2016/08/001

  View details for Web of Science ID 000389859100009

• Mono-W dark matter signals at the LHC: simplified model analysis JOURNAL OF COSMOLOGY AND ASTROPARTICLE PHYSICS Bell, N. F., Cai, Y., Leane, R. K. 2016

  View details for DOI 10.1088/1475-7516/2016/01/051

  View details for Web of Science ID 000369734300051

• Dark matter at the LHC: Effective field theories and gauge invariance PHYSICAL REVIEW D Bell, N. F., Cai, Y., Dent, J. B., Leane, R. K., Weiler, T. J. 2015; 92 (5)

  View details for DOI 10.1103/PhysRevD.92.053008

  View details for Web of Science ID 000361302500005

• Leptophilic dark matter with Z ' interactions PHYSICAL REVIEW D Bell, N. F., Cai, Y., Leane, R. K., Medina, A. D. 2014; 90 (3)

  View details for DOI 10.1103/PhysRevD.90.035027

  View details for Web of Science ID 000341287600005