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1. The low-energy spectrum in DAMIC at SNOLAB

   https://doi.org/10.21468/SciPostPhysProc.12.011  

   Chavarria, Alvaro E. (July 2023, SciPost Physics Proceedings)

   The DAMIC experiment employs large-area, thick charge-coupled devices (CCDs) to search for the interactions of low-mass dark matter particles in the galactic halo with silicon atoms in the CCD target. From 2017 to 2019, DAMIC collected data with a seven-CCD array (40-gram target) installed in the SNOLAB underground laboratory. We report dark-matter search results, including a conspicuous excess of events above the background model below 200 V_{ee} V e e , whose origin remains unknown. We present details of the published spectral analysis, and update on the deployment of skipper CCDs to perform a more precise measurement by early 2023. 

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2. S8 Tension in the Context of Dark Matter–Baryon Scattering

   https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/acdb63  

   He, Adam; Ivanov, Mikhail M.; An, Rui; Gluscevic, Vera (August 2023, The Astrophysical Journal Letters)

   Abstract We explore an interacting dark matter (IDM) model that allows for a fraction of dark matter (DM) to undergo velocity-independent scattering with baryons. In this scenario, structure on small scales is suppressed relative to the cold DM scenario. Using the effective field theory of large-scale structure, we perform the first systematic analysis of BOSS full-shape galaxy clustering data for the IDM scenario, and we find that this model ameliorates theS₈tension between large-scale structure and Planck data. Adding theS₈prior from the Dark Energy Survey (DES) to our analysis further leads to a mild ∼3σpreference for a nonvanishing DM–baryon scattering cross section, assuming ∼10% of DM is interacting and has a particle mass of 1 MeV. This result produces a modest ∼20% suppression of the linear power atk≲ 1hMpc⁻¹, consistent with other small-scale structure observations. Similar scale-dependent power suppression was previously shown to have the potential to resolveS₈tension between cosmological data sets. The validity of the specific IDM model explored here will be critically tested with upcoming galaxy surveys at the interaction level needed to alleviate theS₈tension. 

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3. Astrometric Microlensing by Primordial Black Holes with the Roman Space Telescope

   https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ad3243  

   Fardeen, James; McGill, Peter; Perkins, Scott E; Dawson, William A; Abrams, Natasha S; Lu, Jessica R; Ho, Ming-Feng; Bird, Simeon (April 2024, The Astrophysical Journal)

   Abstract Primordial black holes (PBHs) could explain some fraction of dark matter and shed light on many areas of early-Universe physics. Despite over half a century of research interest, a PBH population has so far eluded detection. The most competitive constraints on the fraction of dark matter comprised of PBHs (f_DM) in the (10⁻⁹–10)M_⊙mass ranges come from photometric microlensing and boundf_DM≲ 10⁻²–10⁻¹. With the advent of the Roman Space Telescope with its submilliarcsecond astrometric capabilities and its planned Galactic Bulge Time Domain Survey (GBTDS), detecting astrometric microlensing signatures will become routine. Compared with photometric microlensing, astrometric microlensing signals are sensitive to different lens masses–distance configurations and contain different information, making it a complimentary lensing probe. At submilliarcsecond astrometric precision, astrometric microlensing signals are typically detectable at larger lens–source separations than photometric signals, suggesting a microlensing detection channel of pure astrometric events. We use a Galactic simulation to predict the number of detectable microlensing events during the GBTDS via this pure astrometric microlensing channel. Assuming an absolute astrometric precision floor for bright stars of 0.1 mas for the GBTDS, we find that the number of detectable events peaks at ≈10³f_DMfor a population of 1M_⊙PBHs and tapers to ≈10f_DMand ≈100f_DMat 10⁻⁴M_⊙and 10³M_⊙, respectively. Accounting for the distinguishability of PBHs from stellar lenses, we conclude the GBTDS will be sensitive to a PBH population atf_DMdown to ≈10⁻¹–10⁻³for (10⁻¹–10²)M_⊙likely yielding novel PBH constraints. 

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4. DESI 2024 VI: cosmological constraints from the measurements of baryon acoustic oscillations

   https://doi.org/10.1088/1475-7516/2025/02/021  

   Adame, AG; Aguilar, J; Ahlen, S; Alam, S; Alexander, DM; Alvarez, M; Alves, O; Anand, A; Andrade, U; Armengaud, E; et al (February 2025, Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics)

   Abstract We present cosmological results from the measurement of baryon acoustic oscillations (BAO) in galaxy, quasar and Lyman-αforest tracers from the first year of observations from the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI), to be released in the DESI Data Release 1. DESI BAO provide robust measurements of the transverse comoving distance and Hubble rate, or their combination, relative to the sound horizon, in seven redshift bins from over 6 million extragalactic objects in the redshift range 0.1 <z< 4.2. To mitigate confirmation bias, a blind analysis was implemented to measure the BAO scales. DESI BAO data alone are consistent with the standard flat ΛCDM cosmological model with a matter density Ω_m=0.295±0.015. Paired with a baryon density prior from Big Bang Nucleosynthesis and the robustly measured acoustic angular scale from the cosmic microwave background (CMB), DESI requiresH₀=(68.52±0.62) km s^-1Mpc^-1. In conjunction with CMB anisotropies fromPlanckand CMB lensing data fromPlanckand ACT, we find Ω_m=0.307± 0.005 andH₀=(67.97±0.38) km s^-1Mpc^-1. Extending the baseline model with a constant dark energy equation of state parameterw, DESI BAO alone requirew=-0.99^+0.15_-0.13. In models with a time-varying dark energy equation of state parametrised byw₀andw_a, combinations of DESI with CMB or with type Ia supernovae (SN Ia) individually preferw₀> -1 andw_a< 0. This preference is 2.6σfor the DESI+CMB combination, and persists or grows when SN Ia are added in, giving results discrepant with the ΛCDM model at the 2.5σ, 3.5σor 3.9σlevels for the addition of the Pantheon+, Union3, or DES-SN5YR supernova datasets respectively. For the flat ΛCDM model with the sum of neutrino mass ∑m_νfree, combining the DESI and CMB data yields an upper limit ∑m_ν< 0.072 (0.113) eV at 95% confidence for a ∑m_ν> 0 (∑m_ν> 0.059) eV prior. These neutrino-mass constraints are substantially relaxed if the background dynamics are allowed to deviate from flat ΛCDM. 

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5. COSMOS-Web: Intrinsically Luminous z ≳ 10 Galaxy Candidates Test Early Stellar Mass Assembly

   https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ad2075  

   Casey, Caitlin M; Akins, Hollis B; Shuntov, Marko; Ilbert, Olivier; Paquereau, Louise; Franco, Maximilien; Hayward, Christopher C; Finkelstein, Steven L; Boylan-Kolchin, Michael; Robertson, Brant E; et al (April 2024, The Astrophysical Journal)

   Abstract We report the discovery of 15 exceptionally luminous 10 ≲z≲ 14 candidate galaxies discovered in the first 0.28 deg²of JWST/NIRCam imaging from the COSMOS-Web survey. These sources span rest-frame UV magnitudes of −20.5 >M_UV> −22, and thus constitute the most intrinsically luminousz≳ 10 candidates identified by JWST to date. Selected via NIRCam imaging, deep ground-based observations corroborate their detection and help significantly constrain their photometric redshifts. We analyze their spectral energy distributions using multiple open-source codes and evaluate the probability of low-redshift solutions; we conclude that 12/15 (80%) are likely genuinez≳ 10 sources and 3/15 (20%) likely low-redshift contaminants. Three of ourz∼ 12 candidates push the limits of early stellar mass assembly: they have estimated stellar masses ∼ 5 × 10⁹M_⊙, implying an effective stellar baryon fraction ofϵ_⋆∼ 0.2−0.5, whereϵ_⋆≡M_⋆/(f_bM_halo). The assembly of such stellar reservoirs is made possible due to rapid, burst-driven star formation on timescales < 100 Myr where the star formation rate may far outpace the growth of the underlying dark matter halos. This is supported by the similar volume densities inferred forM_⋆∼ 10¹⁰M_⊙galaxies relative toM_⋆∼ 10⁹M_⊙—both about 10⁻⁶Mpc⁻³—implying they live in halos of comparable mass. At such high redshifts, the duty cycle for starbursts would be of order unity, which could cause the observed change in the shape of the UV luminosity function from a double power law to a Schechter function atz≈ 8. Spectroscopic redshift confirmation and ensuing constraints of their masses will be critical to understand how, and if, such early massive galaxies push the limits of galaxy formation in the Lambda cold dark matter paradigm. 

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