The Sun as Dark Matter Laboratory

by Tran Quang Thong Nguyen (Stockholm University)

Monday 9 Mar 2026, 15:00 → 17:00 Europe/Stockholm

AlbaNova A5:1041 - CoPS grupprum (AlbaNova Main Building)

The nature of dark matter remains one of the most compelling open questions in modern particle physics and cosmology. While its gravitational effects are firmly established across astrophysical and cosmological scales, the possibility of non-gravitational interactions between dark matter and Standard Model particles opens additional avenues for detection and theoretical exploration. In particular, celestial bodies such as the Sun can accumulate dark matter particles through scattering processes, leading to an enhanced dark matter density within their interiors. Once captured, these particles may annihilate into Standard Model or dark-sector states, producing secondary neutrinos and gamma rays that can be detected by terrestrial and space-based experiments. By confronting theoretical predictions with data from the Super-Kamiokande neutrino detector and the Fermi Large Area Telescope (Fermi-LAT), we derive strong constraints on dark matter interactions within these environments. These results demonstrate the unique advantage of celestial bodies as natural laboratories for probing dark matter properties and highlight their complementarity to conventional terrestrial searches.