arXiv subjects

Tanner Trickle

Publications and source records attributed to Tanner Trickle.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

First-principles upper bounds on dark matter-electron scattering rates from condensed matter sum rules

A wide variety of condensed matter systems are used or proposed as detectors to search for dark matter-electron scattering. In general, the scattering rate depends on detailed knowledge of the electronic properties of these systems. However, when dark matter couples to electron density, the dark matter-electron scattering rate can be related to the electron energy loss function, whose integrals are bounded by first-principles sum rules that rely on only a few macroscopic target properties. In this paper, we use these first-principles sum rules to derive upper bounds on the dark matter-electron scattering rate depending on only a few material properties: the plasma frequency $\omega_\text{p}$, the target mass density $\rho_T$, and the static (longitudinal) dielectric function at finite momentum transfer, $\varepsilon(q, 0)$. The bulk material properties $\omega_\text{p}$ and $\rho_T$ vary only over a limited range across a wide variety of materials, and to a good approximation, the generic large-$q$ dependence of $\varepsilon(q, 0)$ can be understood from a simple scaling law depending only on $\omega_\text{p}$ which we verify with analytic and numerical examples. Thus, our upper bounds are largely material-agnostic, and place a fundamental limit on the sensitivity of any dark matter-electron direct detection experiment probing the coupling to electron density.

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arXiv2026

Correlated signals of ultralight scalar dark matter in pulsar timing

Pulsar timing arrays (PTAs) are sensitive to ultralight dark matter (ULDM) in the $10^{-24}$-$10^{-20}\,\mathrm{eV}$ mass range, with existing datasets already probing otherwise open parameter space and future PTAs promising substantial improvements in reach. Thus far, however, PTA searches for ULDM have typically been formulated using limiting descriptions. Analyses are performed in either the fully correlated limit, in which the local ULDM amplitude is shared across the array, or the fully uncorrelated limit, in which each pulsar has an independent local amplitude. Because the transition between these regimes occurs within the PTA-sensitive mass range, projected sensitivities and data-derived constraints can depend on which limiting description is assumed. For the first time, we develop a self-consistent analysis that treats the ULDM field as a Gaussian random field with finite spatial correlations, allowing the amplitude prior used in PTA signal models to interpolate continuously between the fully correlated and fully uncorrelated limits. We apply the framework to both linearly and quadratically coupled scalar ULDM, the latter including the universal gravitational signal sourced by the oscillating ULDM pressure. Pulsar-distance uncertainties are incorporated through an augmented latent-field prior, and the resulting distance-marginalized latent-amplitude distribution is represented with a normalizing-flow surrogate. We validate the method on mock PTA datasets, including blinded signal injection tests.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2026

Projecting the ultimate pulsar timing sensitivity to dark matter substructure in a stochastic gravitational wave background

Pulsar timing arrays (PTAs) are sensitive to the gravitational influence of passing compact substructures, which can produce Doppler timing delays by accelerating pulsars or the Solar System barycenter, and Shapiro timing delays when passing near Earth--pulsar lines of sight. Projections for the complete PTA sensitivity to compact dark matter (DM) substructures, such as primordial black holes and axion miniclusters, are challenging due to the variety of signal types ranging from rare, nearly static encounters, to dynamic flybys, to the stochastic limit of many substructures. We address this challenge with a framework that combines Monte Carlo signal modeling and machine-learned surrogate likelihoods, enabling a unified likelihood-level analysis of signals previously treated only in simplified limiting regimes. We then use this framework to precisely assess the impact of a stochastic gravitational wave background (SGWB), for which evidence was recently found, on the PTA sensitivity to compact DM substructures. The SGWB substantially weakens the sensitivity, and we find that in even the most optimistic observing scenario only a Shapiro search retains sensitivity to subdominant DM components when assuming SGWB parameters inferred from current measurements.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2026

Electronic Direct Detection of Light Dark Matter with Intermediate-Mass Mediators

Recent years have seen dramatic improvements in the sensitivity of electron-based direct detection experiments. Typically, the sensitivity to dark matter scattering is determined in the light and heavy mediator mass limits. In this paper we show that the light and heavy mediator mass limits are not separated by a single scale, but instead can be separated by up to three orders of magnitude in mediator mass for sub-GeV mass dark matter. We calculate the background-free sensitivity in Si and Ge targets, and a projected DAMIC-M sensitivity, to sub-GeV mass dark matter models with ``intermediate-mass" mediators between the light and heavy mediator limits. This allows us to determine the precise range of mediator masses that electron-based direct detection experiments are sensitive to when the dark matter relic abundance is generated via freeze-in. We make the calculations presented here publicly available in an updated release of EXCEED-DM (https://github.com/tanner-trickle/EXCEED-DM).

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arXiv2025

Infrared Freeze-In of Magnetic Dipole Dark Matter

We propose a novel mechanism for the cosmological production of keV - GeV mass dark matter that interacts with the Standard Model through a small effective magnetic dipole moment. Such an interaction can be radiatively generated if dark matter couples to heavier charged particles. Previous studies have focused on the case where these charged states are much heavier than the reheat temperature, such that freeze-in production of dark matter is sensitive to the ultraviolet details of reheating. Here, we instead consider the possibility that these heavy states have masses comparable to the dark matter mass and are charged under a new kinetically-mixed $U(1)'$. As a result, dark matter production is dominated by the infrared freeze-in of the heavy charged states that subsequently thermalize the rest of the dark sector to a temperature much below that of the visible bath. We delineate regions of parameter space consistent with cosmological and astrophysical constraints and identify benchmark scenarios that can guide the next generation of direct detection experiments searching for spin-dependent scattering of sub-GeV dark matter.

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arXiv2025

A Thermal Relic Encyclopedia: Dark Matter Candidates Coupled to Quarks

Thermal freeze-out is a compelling framework for naturally generating the dark matter abundance. We systematically study a broad range of dark matter and mediator particle combinations that can viably realize thermal freeze-out, focusing on models in which the mediator couples to Standard Model quarks. In each case, we calculate the relic density and consider existing constraints from accelerators, cosmology, direct detection, and indirect detection over the full range of dark matter and mediator masses. We present an encyclopedic catalog of matrix elements, cross sections, and decay rates which can be used as a reference for future studies of dark matter phenomenology.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2025

MOSAIC: Magnonic Observations of Spin-dependent Axion-like InteraCtions

We introduce an array-scalable, magnon-based detector (MOSAIC) to search for the spin-dependent interactions of electron-coupled axion dark matter. These axions can excite single magnons in magnetic targets, such as the yttrium iron garnet (YIG) spheres used here, which are subsequently sensed by the detector. For MOSAIC, this sensing is implemented by coupling the magnons in the YIG spheres to magnetic-field-resilient single-electron charge-qubits, whose state is then interrogated with a quantum non-demolition measurement. Using standard superconducting fabrication techniques, MOSAIC can integrate many YIG sphere-qubit sensors, forming a large detector array. We outline the detector design and operation, and determine its sensitivity to axion dark matter. We find that a detector built with available technology will exceed the sensitivity of previous ferromagnetic haloscopes, and provides a platform where further improvements in performance would search for electron-coupled axion dark matter in unexplored parameter space.

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arXiv2025

Determining Spin-Dependent Light Dark Matter Rates from Neutron Scattering

The scattering and absorption rates of light dark matter with electron spin-dependent interactions depend on the target's spin response. We show how this response is encoded by the target's dynamical magnetic susceptibility, which can be measured using neutron scattering. We directly use existing neutron scattering data to compute the dark matter scattering rate in a candidate target material, finding close agreement with the previous first-principles calculation at MeV dark matter masses. Complementary experiments and measurements can extend the reach of this technique to other dark matter models and masses, and identify promising target materials for future experiments.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2025

Piezoelectric Bulk Acoustic Resonators For Dark Photon Detection

The kinetically mixed dark photon is a simple, testable dark matter candidate with strong theoretical motivation. Detecting the feeble electric field dark photon dark matter produces requires extremely sensitive detectors. Bulk acoustic resonators (BARs), with their exceptionally high-quality phonon modes, are capable of achieving incredible sensitivity to gravitational waves in the MHz to GHz frequency range. The BAR phonons are typically read out by detecting the electric field generated by the BAR materials' piezoelectricity. Here we show that this piezoelectricity also rewards such detectors sensitivity to dark photon dark matter, as the dark electric field can resonantly excite BAR phonons. A single 10 g piezoelectric BAR in a large, cold, environment can be orders of magnitude more sensitive to the kinetic mixing parameter than any current experiment, with only a month-long exposure and thermally-limited backgrounds.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2024

Listening For New Physics With Quantum Acoustics

We present a novel application of a qubit-coupled phonon detector to search for new physics, e.g., ultralight dark matter (DM) and high-frequency gravitational waves. The detector, motivated by recent advances in quantum acoustics, is composed of superconducting transmon qubits coupled to high-overtone bulk acoustic resonators ($h$BARs) and operates in the GHz - 10 GHz frequency range. New physics can excite $O(10 \, \mu \text{eV})$ phonons within the $h$BAR, which are then converted to qubit excitations via a transducer. We detail the design, operation, backgrounds, and expected sensitivity of a prototype detector, as well as a next-generation detector optimized for new physics signals. We find that a future detector can complement current haloscope experiments in the search for both dark photon DM and high-frequency gravitational waves. Lastly we comment on such a detector's ability to operate as a $10 \, \mu\text{eV}$ threshold athermal phonon sensor for sub-GeV DM detection.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2024

The Non-Relativistic Effective Field Theory Of Dark Matter-Electron Interactions

Electronic excitations in atomic, molecular, and crystal targets are at the forefront of the ongoing search for light, sub-GeV dark matter (DM). In many light DM-electron interactions the energy and momentum deposited is much smaller than the electron mass, motivating a non-relativistic (NR) description of the electron. Thus, for any target, light DM-electron phenomenology relies on understanding the interactions between the DM and electron in the NR limit. In this work we derive the NR effective field theory (EFT) of general DM-electron interactions from a top-down perspective, starting from general high-energy DM-electron interaction Lagrangians. This provides an explicit connection between high-energy theories and their low-energy phenomenology in electron excitation based experiments. Furthermore, we derive Feynman rules for the DM-electron NR EFT, allowing observables to be computed diagrammatically, which can systematically explain the presence of in-medium screening effects in general DM models. We use these Feynman rules to compute absorption, scattering, and dark Thomson scattering rates for a wide variety of high-energy DM models.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2023

Physical Signatures of Fermion-Coupled Axion Dark Matter

In the presence of axion dark matter, fermion spins experience an "axion wind" torque and an "axioelectric" force. We investigate new experimental probes of these effects and find that magnetized analogs of multilayer dielectric haloscopes can explore orders of magnitude of new parameter space for the axion-electron coupling. We also revisit the calculation of axion absorption into in-medium excitations, showing that axioelectric absorption is screened in spin-polarized targets, and axion wind absorption can be characterized in terms of a magnetic energy loss function. Finally, our detailed theoretical treatment allows us to critically examine recent claims in the literature. We find that axioelectric corrections to electronic energy levels are smaller than previously estimated and that the purported electron electric dipole moment due to a constant axion field is entirely spurious.

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arXiv2023

Searching for High Frequency Gravitational Waves with Phonons

The gravitational wave (GW) spectrum at frequencies above a kHz is a largely unexplored frontier. We show that detectors with sensitivity to single-phonon excitations in crystal targets can search for GWs with frequencies, $\mathrm{THz} \lesssim f \lesssim 100 \, \mathrm{THz}$, corresponding to the range of optical phonon energies, $\mathrm{meV} \lesssim \omega \lesssim 100 \, \mathrm{meV}$. Such detectors are already being built to search for light dark matter (DM), and therefore sensitivity to high-frequency GWs will be achieved as a byproduct. We begin by deriving the absorption rate of a general GW signal into single phonons. We then focus on carefully defining the detector sensitivity to monochromatic and chirp signals, and compute the detector sensitivity for many proposed light DM detection targets. The detector sensitivity is then compared to the signal strength of candidate high-frequency GW sources, e.g., superradiant annihilation and black hole inspiral, as well as other recent detector proposals in the $\mathrm{MHz} \lesssim f \lesssim 100 \, \mathrm{THz}$ frequency range. With a judicious choice of target materials, a collection of detectors could optimistically achieve sensitivities to monochromatic signals with $h_0 \sim 10^{-23} - 10^{-25}$ over $\mathrm{THz} \lesssim f \lesssim 100 \, \mathrm{THz}$.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2023

Effective Field Theory for Dark Matter Absorption on Single Phonons

Single phonon excitations, with energies in the $1-100 \, \text{meV}$ range, are a powerful probe of light dark matter (DM). Utilizing effective field theory, we derive a framework to compute DM absorption rates into single phonons starting from general DM-electron, proton, and neutron interactions. We apply the framework to a variety of DM models: Yukawa coupled scalars, axionlike particles (ALPs) with derivative interactions, and vector DM coupling via gauge interactions or Standard Model electric and magnetic dipole moments. We find that GaAs or $\text{Al}_2\text{O}_3$ targets can set powerful constraints on a $U(1)_{B-L}$ model, and targets with electronic spin ordering are similarly sensitive to DM coupling to the electron magnetic dipole moment. Lastly, we make the code, \textsf{PhonoDark-abs} (an extension of the existing \textsf{PhonoDark} code which computes general DM-single phonon scattering rates), publicly available.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2023

PTArcade

This is a lightweight manual for PTArcade, a wrapper of ENTERPRISE and ceffyl that allows for easy implementation of new-physics searches in PTA data. In this manual, we describe how to get PTArcade installed (either on your local machine or an HPC cluster). We discuss how to define a stochastic or deterministic signal and how PTArcade implements these signals in PTA-analysis pipelines. Finally, we show how to handle and analyze the PTArcade output using a series of utility functions that come together with PTArcade.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2023

Absorption of Axion Dark Matter in a Magnetized Medium

Detection of axion dark matter heavier than a meV is hindered by its small wavelength, which limits the useful volume of traditional experiments. This problem can be avoided by directly detecting in-medium excitations, whose $\sim \text{meV} - \text{eV}$ energies are decoupled from the detector size. We show that for any target inside a magnetic field, the absorption rate of electromagnetically-coupled axions into in-medium excitations is determined by the dielectric function. As a result, the plethora of candidate targets previously identified for sub-GeV dark matter searches can be repurposed as broadband axion detectors. We find that a $\text{kg} \cdot \text{yr}$ exposure with noise levels comparable to recent measurements is sufficient to probe parameter space currently unexplored by laboratory tests. Noise reduction by only a few orders of magnitude can enable sensitivity to the QCD axion in the $\sim 10 \ \text{meV} - 10 \ \text{eV}$ mass range.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2023

Absorption of Vector Dark Matter Beyond Kinetic Mixing

Massive vector particles are minimal dark matter candidates that motivate a wide range of laboratory searches, primarily exploiting a postulated kinetic mixing with the photon. However, depending on the high energy field content, the dominant vector dark matter (VDM) coupling to visible particles may arise at higher operator dimension, motivating efforts to predict direct detection rates for more general interactions. Here we present the first calculation of VDM absorption through its coupling to electron electric (EDM) or magnetic (MDM) dipole moments, which can be realized in minimal extensions to the Standard Model and yield the observed abundance through a variety of mechanisms across the eV\,-\,MeV mass range. We compute the absorption rate of the MDM and EDM models for a general target, and then derive direct detection constraints from targets currently in use: Si and Ge crystals and Xe and Ar atoms. We find that current experiments are already sensitive to VDM parameter space corresponding to a cosmological freeze-in scenario, and future experiments will be able to completely exclude MDM and EDM freeze-in models with reheat temperatures below the electroweak scale. Additionally, we find that while constraints on the MDM interaction can be related to constraints on axion-like particles, the same is not true for the EDM model, so the latter absorption rate must be computed from first principles. To achieve this, we update the publicly available program EXCEED-DM to perform these new calculations.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2022

EXCEED-DM: Extended Calculation of Electronic Excitations for Direct Detection of Dark Matter

Direct detection experiments utilizing electronic excitations are spearheading the search for light, sub-GeV, dark matter (DM). It is thus crucial to have accurate predictions for any DM-electron interaction rate in this regime. EXCEED-DM (EXtended Calculation of Electronic Excitations for Direct detection of Dark Matter) computes DM-electron interaction rates with inputs from a variety of ab initio electronic structure calculations. The purpose of this manuscript is two-fold: to familiarize the user with the formalism and inputs of EXCEED-DM, and perform novel calculations to showcase what EXCEED-DM is capable of. We perform four calculations which extend previous results: the scattering rate in the dark photon model, screened with the numerically computed dielectric function, the scattering rate with an interaction potential dependent on the electron velocity, an extended absorption calculation for scalar, pseudoscalar, and vector DM, and the annual modulation of the scattering rate in the dark photon model.

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