2018
Ref: POSTER-2019-0039

A model for detection of topological dark matter using GNSS networks.

Bertrand, Bruno ; Defraigne, Pascale


Poster presented at 32rd European Frequency and Time Forum (EFTF), Torino, Italy on 2018-04-10

Abstract: It can be inferred from cosmological observations that 23 % of the mass-energy budget of the Universe consists in dark matter. However, the lack of evidence at the level of particle physics leads to the conclusion that, aside from gravitation, dark matter hardly interacts with ordinary matter. Thus an impressive panoply of models have been developed to account for the microscopic nature of dark matter. Hence a crucial need is to bring new constraints on these models to reduce the huge number of possibilities. The scalar portal implies that if the Earth’s trajectory intercepts any topological defect, the GNSS signals should be affected by a variable relative permittivity. Within this context, A. Derevianko et al proposed to use the large network of atomic clocks and GPS satellites as a gigantic detector with an aperture of 50000km. They focused on a particular type of dark matter arising from ultralight hypothetical fields that condensate into spatially extended object. These structures, called topological defects, are allowed to be Earth-sized. When the trajectory of the Earth in the Galactic halo intercepts such defects, a coherent succession of glitches should appear at the level of atomic clock and would propagate through the GPS constellation and the Earth. In this poster we introduce a new effective theoretical model from which all the basic types of topological defects (monopole, vortex and domain wall) can be described at low energy scale. Using this model, we show that when Earth sweeps through topological defects, these latter act as a moving, inhomogeneous medium. Disturbances are thus induced in the GNSS signals from satellites to the Earth’s surface.

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The record appears in these collections:
Royal Observatory of Belgium > Reference Systems & Planetology
Conference Contributions & Seminars > Posters



 Record created 2019-01-28, last modified 2019-01-28