arXiv subjects

Tim Linden

Publications and source records attributed to Tim Linden.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Solar Neutrino Constraints on Inelastic Dark Matter Scattering in Light of Recent LUX-ZEPLIN Observations

The LUX-ZEPLIN (LZ) Collaboration recently reported the detection of a single nuclear recoil candidate event with a very high recoil energy. The lack of any corresponding low-energy events motivates models in which dark matter scattering with nuclei has a nontrivial momentum dependence or proceeds inelastically, suppressing the rate of low-energy recoils. In this study, we consider the constraints on inelastic dark matter, including scenarios favored by the LZ event, from the absence of an excess of high-energy neutrinos from the Sun in IceCube observations. We confirm the results of Pospelov & Ramani and show, more generally, that the lack of an excess of high-energy neutrinos from the Sun strongly constrains the parameter space in this class of models.

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arXiv2026

Strong Constraints on Line Signals from Dark Matter Annihilation in a Nearby Subhalo

We present a dedicated search for monochromatic gamma-ray emission from a recently proposed nearby dark matter subhalo candidate. Using nearly 15 years of Fermi-LAT Pass 8 data, we perform a sliding-window search for gamma-ray lines between 10 and 300 GeV. We do not find any statistically significant evidence for a line signal. The largest excess occurs at $E_\gamma \simeq 28 \, {\rm GeV}$ with a local significance of $2.5\sigma$. We therefore derive 95% confidence level upper limits on the annihilation cross section for $\chi\chi \rightarrow \gamma\gamma$. Under the assumed NFW subhalo model, the resulting constraints are stronger than existing Galactic Center line limits over much of the explored mass range. We further translate these line constraints into bounds on well-motivated WIMP models, such as Higgs-portal and Wino dark matter scenarios, restricting previously open parameter regions consistent with thermal freeze-out as well as models associated with dark matter interpretations of the Galactic Center Excess.

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arXiv2026

Solar Spin-Dependent Dark Matter-Neutron Cross Section Constraints: The Lost Case

The Sun has long served as a natural dark matter detector, capturing halo particles that scatter with solar nuclei and electrons and subsequently produce indirect signals from dark matter annihilation that can be probed by either neutrino or $\gamma$-ray instruments. Previous efforts have computed cross-section constraints for dark matter scattering with electrons, as well as spin-independent and spin-dependent dark matter-proton scattering. However, the spin-dependent dark matter-neutron scattering scenario has been neglected, despite its importance in direct detection. For the first time, we compute the capture and evaporation rates for spin-dependent dark matter-neutron scattering in the Sun, including odd-neutron isotope targets in the current standard solar model. Comparing the predicted annihilation signals against current neutrino and $\gamma$-ray observations, and projecting the reach of upcoming detectors, we find that solar constraints exceed direct detection limits for several annihilation channels. For models in which the dark matter annihilates into long-lived mediators, these constraints can extend below the neutrino fog.

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arXiv2026

Towards Quantum-Dot Detectors as Barcodes for Dark Matter Interactions

Quantum dots are tunable semiconductor nanocrystals that can be produced at industrial scales. We present the first ab initio calculation of the scattering of dark matter on electrons bound in quantum dots. The momentum-dependence of a quantum dot's electronic response depends on its morphology and on the dark matter mass, interaction operator, mediator coupling, and mediator mass. Therefore, the relative rates across an array of distinct quantum dot targets form a ``barcode'' that carries information about the nature of the dark matter interaction. We project the sensitivity of a detector concept in which a collection of independent target subunits, each loaded with silicon quantum dots of a particular morphology, are read out by Skipper CCDs. Given a future signal, this barcode could discriminate between interaction operators and mediator types. We quantify the discrimination power for a benchmark pair of models as a function of readout noise and exposure.

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arXiv2026

A catalogue of TeV pulsar environments

Pulsars and their environments represent a major class of Galactic gamma-ray sources. Their complex evolution, shaped by the interactions of the pulsar outflow with the supernova remnant (SNR) and the surrounding interstellar medium (ISM), produces diverse morphological and spectral characteristics observable from radio to PeV energies. This work collects and homogenizes data from all major operating TeV observatories, presenting the first comprehensive catalogue of TeV gamma-ray properties of pulsar environments. The catalogue is created from information regarding all gamma-ray sources that have been classified as pulsar-associated sources in published results from H.E.S.S., MAGIC, VERITAS, HAWC, and LHAASO. For each source, the observed gamma-ray properties are cross-matched with pulsar properties from the ATNF catalogue and Fermi-LAT pulsar catalogue. The final catalogue comprises all currently known TeV sources associated with pulsars, spanning all evolutionary stages. The sample consists of 128 gamma-ray sources, connected to 66 different pulsars. It reflects that the TeV-detected population is dominated by young and energetic pulsars located near the Galactic plane, but includes a growing number of middle-aged systems detected as extended halos. Only a weak correlation is found between TeV luminosity and pulsar characteristic age, indicating that TeV evolution is driven by environmental and transport effects rather than by spin-down age alone. Additionally, 5 pulsars which should host a PWN detectable by CTAO are identified as prime targets for future observation to improve our understanding of properties inhibiting the formation of a TeV nebula. This publicly available catalogue provides a uniform foundation for future population studies and for constraining models of particle transport and energy losses in pulsar environments.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2026

On the Gamma-ray Efficiency of Superluminous Supernovae: Potential Detections and Population-Level Constraints

Superluminous supernovae (SLSNe) are among the most energetic stellar explosions, yet their central power source remains uncertain. Models invoking magnetar spin-down or circumstellar interaction predict GeV gamma-ray emission once the ejecta becomes transparent to high-energy photons. We search for such emission from 223 hydrogen-poor SLSNe using 17 years of Fermi-LAT data, defining source-specific search windows based on the Bethe--Heitler transparency time. We find no significant ($\geq5\sigma$) GeV emission. A joint-likelihood analysis constrains the GeV-to-optical efficiency to $\eta < 1.3\times10^{-3}$, two orders of magnitude below the predictions for weakly magnetized magnetar nebulae. A hierarchical population analysis shows that fewer than $0.7\%$ of SLSNe-I can have $\eta > 10^{-2}$. SN 2017egm, however, shows a suggestive excess ($\sim$4 $\sigma$). In the 0.1--500 GeV band, the observed $L_\gamma/L_{\rm opt} \sim 0.68$ for SN 2017egm exceeds hadronic expectations by over an order of magnitude, favoring a magnetar origin. The non-detection of the similarly nearby SN 2018bsz disfavors simple uniform-efficiency scenarios, or potentially points to diversity in the underlying powering mechanisms. We also note a possible excess from SN 2024jlc, though continued Fermi-LAT monitoring is needed because the source may still be within its transparency window.

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arXiv2026

The Sun Can Strongly Constrain Spin-Dependent Dark Matter Nucleon Scattering Below the Evaporation Limit

The Sun is a promising target for dark matter (DM) searches due to its ability to accumulate DM particles via scattering and catalyze their self-annihilation. However, at low DM masses, DM particles can also "evaporate" due to subsequent collisions with the hot thermal plasma of the Sun. While several modeling studies have calculated the competitive dynamics of DM evaporation and annihilation, observational studies have typically assumed a fixed 4 GeV "evaporation limit", below which DM evaporates before it can annihilate. In this paper, we consider the competitive effects of DM evaporation and annihilation on spin-dependent DM nucleon cross-section limits, finding that Solar observations can continue to exceed terrestrial constraints by between 1-5 orders of magnitude for DM masses between 2-4 GeV, and can even provide world leading constraints below 0.2 GeV where direct detection is limited.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2025

Dark matter silences Cepheids in the Galactic Center

Upcoming near-infrared facilities (e.g. JWST/NIRCam, ELT/MICADO) will dramatically increase the detectability of galactic center Cepheids despite extreme extinction at optical wavelengths. In this work, we study the impact of dark matter (DM) annihilation on Cepheid stars in the inner parsec of the Milky Way. We show that at captured densities $\rho\sim10^5\,$GeV cm$^{-3}$, blue loop evolution can be suppressed, preventing the formation of low-mass ($3$-$6~{\rm M}_\odot$) short-period ($1$-$6$ days) Cepheids. For even slightly higher DM densities, Cepheids are suppressed across their entire mass range. A dearth of such variables could provide indirect evidence for DM heating. Notably, this effect occurs at lower DM densities than required to impact main-sequence stars. Future surveys will thus offer a novel, complementary probe of DM properties in galactic nuclei.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2025

Are X-Ray Detected Active Galactic Nuclei in Dwarf Galaxies Gamma-Ray Bright?

The $\gamma$-ray emission from active galactic nuclei (AGN), including both beamed blazars and misaligned-AGN, dominates the extragalactic $\gamma$-ray point-source population count and flux. While multi-wavelength studies have detected an increasing number of AGN within dwarf galaxies in the local Universe, $\gamma$-ray emission has so far only been associated with systems hosting supermassive black holes (SMBHs). Dwarf-galaxy AGN are of particular interest because their central black holes fall in the intermediate-mass black hole (IMBH) regime, offering insight into the early evolution of SMBHs. Using 15~years of \textit{Fermi}-LAT data, we present the first search for $\gamma$-ray emission from dwarf-galaxy AGN. In the sample of 74 X-ray-selected dwarf-galaxy AGN, we find no sources that exceed the \textit{Fermi}-LAT detection threshold. However, a joint-likelihood analysis reveals a modest, trials-corrected population-level excess ($\sim2\sigma$) above blank-field expectations at very soft photon indices $\Gamma \gtrsim 3.8$ above 500~MeV. This hint is most pronounced when source contributions are weighed by $M^\alpha_{{\rm IMBH},i}/d_i^2$, with $\alpha\simeq1$--$1.5$, suggesting -- but not confirming -- that $\gamma$-ray emission could scale with the central black hole mass or a property correlated with it (e.g., accretion rate), but with a markedly softer spectrum than in SMBH-hosted AGN.

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arXiv2025

The Impact of Muon and Pion Cooling on the Neutrino Spectrum of NGC 1068

The IceCube Neutrino Observatory has detected a flux of $\sim 1-10 \, {\rm TeV}$ neutrinos from the active galaxy, NGC 1068. The soft spectral index of these neutrinos has previously been interpreted as an indication that this source accelerates protons only up to energies of several hundred TeV. Here, we propose that this source might instead accelerate protons to significantly higher energies, but that the charged pions and muons produced in their interactions undergo significant synchrotron energy losses before they can decay, leading to a cutoff in the neutrino spectrum at TeV-scale energies. This scenario would require very strong magnetic fields to be present in the acceleration region of NGC 1068, on the order of $B \sim 10^7 \, {\rm G}$. We point out that this synchrotron cooling would impact the flavor ratios of the neutrinos from this source, providing a means to test this scenario with future very-large volume neutrino telescopes.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2025

Investigating the Gamma-Ray Emission from Explosive Dispersal Outflows with Fermi-LAT

We present the first systematic study of explosive dispersal outflows (EDOs) as potential sources of high-energy emission in the Milky Way. EDOs are energetic outflows produced during dynamical interactions in young, massive star-forming regions, and their physical conditions make them promising environments for cosmic-ray acceleration. Using 16 years of $0.2$--$500$ GeV Fermi-LAT observations, we study the gamma-ray properties of seven EDOs. Three EDOs, DR21, G34.26$+$0.15, and G5.89$-$0.39 show spatially coincident GeV emission, while the remaining systems yield non-detections. Among the sample, DR21 stands out as the brightest candidate, with a detection significance $\geq 40\sigma$. Its spectrum is well described by a power law with an exponential cutoff, and the integrated luminosity in the $0.1$--$500$ GeV band is $L_\gamma \simeq 2\times10^{35}\ \mathrm{erg\ s^{-1}}$. When compared with the outflow's estimated kinetic energy, the inferred cosmic-ray acceleration efficiency is $\leq 15\%$, consistent with values for shocks in dense molecular environments. The energetics and morphology support an association between the DR21 molecular outflow and the observed gamma rays. Our results demonstrate that EDOs span a wide range of gamma-ray luminosities and efficiencies, suggesting they may contribute to the Galactic cosmic ray budget. This motivates searches for additional EDOs and improved multiwavelength characterization of their environments.

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arXiv2025

INTEGRAL, eROSITA and Voyager Constraints on Light Bosonic Dark Matter: ALPs, Dark Photons, Scalars, $B-L$ and $L_{i}-L_{j}$ Vectors

The decay of light bosonic dark matter particles can produce a bright electron/positron ($e^+e^-$) flux that can be strongly constrained by local Voyager observations of the direct $e^+e^-$ flux, as well as 511 keV Line and X-ray continuum observations of $e^+e^-$ emission. We carefully analyze the $e^+e^-$ yield and resulting cosmic-ray and X-ray spectra from theoretically well-motivated light dark matter models, including: (a) electrophilic axion-like particles, (b) dark photons, (c) scalars, and (d) $B-L$ and $L_{i}-L_{j}$ vector bosons. We use the morphology and spectrum of the INTEGRAL 511 keV line data, the eROSITA X-ray continuum spectrum and the Voyager $e^+e^-$ spectrum to constrain the decay lifetime and coupling of each dark matter model. We find that 511 keV observations typically set world-leading limits on bosonic dark matter decay below masses of $\sim$1 GeV, while eROSITA observations provide the strongest constraints in the range from 1--10 GeV. Finally, we forecast future limits from 21 cm line searches with next-generation HERA data.

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arXiv2025

First Observations of Solar Halo Gamma Rays Over a Full Solar Cycle

We analyze 15 years of Fermi-LAT data and produce a detailed model of the Sun's inverse-Compton scattering emission (solar halo), which is powered by interactions between ambient cosmic-ray electrons and positrons with sunlight. By developing a novel analysis method to analyze moving sources, we robustly detect the solar halo at energies between 31.6 MeV and 100 GeV, and angular extensions up to 45$^\circ$ from the Sun, providing new insight into spatial regions where there are no direct measurements of the galactic cosmic-ray flux. The large statistical significance of our signal allows us to sub-divide the data and provide the first $\gamma$-ray probes into the time-variation and azimuthal asymmetry of the solar modulation potential, finding time-dependent changes in solar modulation both parallel and perpendicular to the ecliptic plane. Our results are consistent with (but with independent uncertainties from) local cosmic-ray measurements, unlocking new probes into both astrophysical and beyond-standard-model processes near the solar surface.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2025

Every Nearby Energetic Pulsar Is Surrounded by a Region of Inhibited Diffusion

The H.E.S.S. telescope has recently detected the total electron-plus-positron ($e^+e^-$) flux up to 40 TeV, finding it to be a featureless and steeply-falling power-law above 1 TeV. This result is in stark tension with standard one-zone models of pulsar $e^+e^-$ injection and diffusion, which predict a hard-spectrum signal above $\sim$10 TeV. We model the local pulsar population, and find 20 sources that would each $individually$ overproduce the H.E.S.S. $e^+e^-$ flux in a one-zone diffusion model. We conclude that $every$ energetic pulsar younger than $\sim$500 kyr must be surrounded by a region of inhibited diffusion ($e.g.$, a supernova remnant, pulsar wind nebula, or TeV halo) that prevents the transport of these $e^+e^-$ to Earth. Because the high-electron density in these regions produces bright synchrotron and inverse-Compton emission, we conclude that all nearby pulsars are detectable as (potentially unassociated) radio, x-ray or $\gamma$-ray sources.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2025

Looking for the {\gamma}-Ray Cascades of the KM3-230213A Neutrino Source

The extreme energy of the KM3-230213A event could transform our understanding of the most energetic sources in the Universe. However, it also reveals an inconsistency between the KM3NeT detection and strong IceCube constraints on the ultra-high energy neutrino flux. The most congruous explanation for the KM3NeT and IceCube data requires KM3-230213A to be produced by a (potentially transient) source fortuitously located in a region where the KM3NeT acceptance is maximized. In hadronic models of ultra-high-energy neutrino production, such a source would also produce a bright {\gamma}-ray signal, which would cascade to GeV--TeV energies due to interactions with extragalactic background light. We utilize the {\gamma}-Cascade package to model the spectrum, spatial extension, and time-delay of such a source, and scan a region surrounding the KM3NeT event to search for a consistent {\gamma}-ray signal. We find no convincing evidence for a comparable \textit{Fermi}-LAT source and place constraints on a combination of the source redshift and the intergalactic magnetic field strength between the source and Earth.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2025

Gamma-Ray Observations of Galaxy Clusters Strongly Constrain Dark Matter Annihilation in Prompt Cusps

Thermal dark matter models generically include the prompt creation of highly-concentrated dark matter cusps in the early Universe. Recent studies find that these cusps can survive to the present day, as long as they do not fall into extremely dense regions of baryonic structure. In this work, we build models of dark matter annihilation within the prompt cusps that reside in galaxy clusters, showing that they dominate the total $\gamma$-ray annihilation signal. Using 15 years of Fermi-LAT data, we find no evidence for a $\gamma$-ray excess from these sources, and set strong constraints on annihilating dark matter. These constraints generically rule out the thermal annihilation cross-section to the $b\bar{b}$ channel for dark matter masses below $\sim$200~GeV.

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arXiv2025

Super-Kamiokande Strongly Constrains Leptophilic Dark Matter Capture in the Sun

The Sun can efficiently capture leptophilic dark matter that scatters with free electrons. If this dark matter subsequently annihilates into leptonic states, it can produce a detectable neutrino flux. Using 10 years of Super-Kamiokande observations, we set constraints on the dark-matter/electron scattering cross-section that exceed terrestrial direct detection searches by more than an order of magnitude for dark matter masses below 100 GeV, and reach cross-sections as low as $\sim$4$\times$10$^{-41}$cm$^{-2}$.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2025

Heavy Axions Can Disrupt $\gamma$-ray Bursts

Axion-like particles (ALPs) can be produced in the hot dense plasma of fireballs that develop in the initial stage of $\gamma$-ray burst (GRB) outflows. They can transport an enormous amount of energy away from the jet by propagating out of the fireball. The photons produced by the eventual decay of such ALPs do not reach a sufficient density to re-thermalize through pair production, preventing fireball re-emergence. Thus, the production of heavy ALPs disrupts the fireball and dims GRBs, allowing bright GRB observations to strongly constrain the existence of heavy ALPs. By adding ALP interactions to existing models of GRB fireballs, we set competitive bounds on the ALP-photon coupling down to $g_{a \gamma \gamma} \sim 4 \times 10^{-12}~{\mathrm{GeV}^{-1}}$ for ALPs in the mass range of 200 MeV - 5 GeV.

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