https://doi.org/10.1140/epjc/s10052-017-5155-4
Regular Article - Theoretical Physics
DarkBit: a GAMBIT module for computing dark matter observables and likelihoods
1
Department of Physics, University of Oslo, 0316, Oslo, Norway
2
Oskar Klein Centre for Cosmoparticle Physics, AlbaNova University Centre, 10691, Stockholm, Sweden
3
Department of Physics, Stockholm University, 10691, Stockholm, Sweden
4
Department of Physics, McGill University, 3600 rue University, Montreal, QC, H3A 2T8, Canada
5
DESY, Notkestraße 85, 22607, Hamburg, Germany
6
NORDITA, Roslagstullsbacken 23, 10691, Stockholm, Sweden
7
LAPTh, Université de Savoie, CNRS, 9 chemin de Bellevue B.P.110, 74941, Annecy-le-Vieux, France
8
Department of Physics, Blackett Laboratory, Imperial College London, Prince Consort Road, London, SW7 2AZ, UK
9
GRAPPA, Institute of Physics, University of Amsterdam, Science Park 904, 1098 XH, Amsterdam, Netherlands
10
Department of Physics, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA, 5005, Australia
11
Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Particle Physics at the Tera-scale, Parkville, Australia
* e-mail: cornellj@physics.mcgill.ca
Received:
15
March
2017
Accepted:
22
August
2017
Published online:
6
December
2017
We introduce DarkBit, an advanced software code for computing dark matter constraints on various extensions to the Standard Model of particle physics, comprising both new native code and interfaces to external packages. This release includes a dedicated signal yield calculator for gamma-ray observations, which significantly extends current tools by implementing a cascade-decay Monte Carlo, as well as a dedicated likelihood calculator for current and future experiments (gamLike). This provides a general solution for studying complex particle physics models that predict dark matter annihilation to a multitude of final states. We also supply a direct detection package that models a large range of direct detection experiments (DDCalc), and that provides the corresponding likelihoods for arbitrary combinations of spin-independent and spin-dependent scattering processes. Finally, we provide custom relic density routines along with interfaces to DarkSUSY, micrOMEGAs, and the neutrino telescope likelihood package nulike. DarkBit is written in the framework of the Global And Modular Beyond the Standard Model Inference Tool (GAMBIT), providing seamless integration into a comprehensive statistical fitting framework that allows users to explore new models with both particle and astrophysics constraints, and a consistent treatment of systematic uncertainties. In this paper we describe its main functionality, provide a guide to getting started quickly, and show illustrative examples for results obtained with DarkBit (both as a stand-alone tool and as a GAMBIT module). This includes a quantitative comparison between two of the main dark matter codes (DarkSUSY and micrOMEGAs), and application of DarkBit ’s advanced direct and indirect detection routines to a simple effective dark matter model.
© The Author(s), 2017