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Uranus's anomalously low excess heat constrains strongly interacting dark matter

Saibal Mitra
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Abstract

Dark matter annihilations can generate significant amounts of internal heat inside planets if dark matter consists mainly of particles with nuclear cross sections in the micro-barn range or larger (SIMPs). By considering a detailed model of Uranus's interior, we calculate upper limits on the S-wave annihilation cross section for these particles as a function of their mass. These upper limits, together with other experimental and theoretical constraints, rule out SIMPs with masses between 150 MeV and $10^{4}$ GeV.

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Saibal Mitra. 2004-11-05. Uranus's anomalously low excess heat constrains strongly interacting dark matter. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevd.70.103517

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