Limits on Galactic Dark Matter with 5 Years of EROS SMC Data

One of the most important problems in astrophysics concerns the nature of the dark matter in galactic halos, whose presence is implied mainly by the observed flat rotation curves in spiral galaxies. In the framework of a baryonic scenario the most plausible candidates are brown dwarfs, M-dwarfs or white dwarfs and cold molecular clouds (mainly of $H_2$). The former can be detected with the ongoing microlensing experiments, which are rapidly leading to important new results. T...

In the third part of the series presenting the Optical Gravitational Lensing Experiment (OGLE) microlensing studies of the dark matter halo compact objects (MACHOs) we describe results of the OGLE-III monitoring of the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). This unprecedented data set contains almost continuous photometric coverage over 8 years of about 35 million objects spread over 40 square degrees. We report a detection of two candidate microlensing events found with the automated...

The observations of microlensing events in the Large Magellanic Cloud suggest that a sizable fraction ($\sim$ 50%) of the galactic halo is in the form of MACHOs (Massive Astrophysical Compact Halo Objects) with an average mass $\sim 0.27 M_{\odot}$, assuming a standard spherical halo model. We describe a scenario in which dark clusters of MACHOs and cold molecular clouds (mainly of $H_2$) naturally form in the halo at galactocentric distances larger than 10--20 kpc.

Microlensing searches aim to detect compact halo dark matter via its gravitational lensing effect on stars within the Large Magellanic Cloud. The most recent results have led to the claim that roughly one fifth of the galactic halo dark matter may be in the form of compact, solar-mass objects. We analyze this hypothesis by considering the goodness-of-fit of the best-fit halo dark matter solutions to the observational data. We show that the distribution of the durations of the...

After a decade of gravitational microlensing experiments, 13 to 17 events by MACHO (depending on quality) and two events by EROS have been detected. All of those have been observed in the direction of Large Magellanic Cloud. We use Evans spherically symmetric halo model to study the rate of microlensing events. The expected number of events in this model obtain by using EROS and MACHO observational efficiencies. We compare our numbers with the observed events to obtain the fr...

Four microlensing collaborations are presently searching for compact matter in the Galaxy and all have detected possible candidates. Using the detection efficiencies recently published by the MACHO and OGLE collaborations, we present Monte-Carlo calculations of the expected optical depth, rates and timescales, along the LMC and Galactic bulge lines of sight, for dark matter in a four-component `standard Galaxy' model with a spherically-symmetric halo and spheroid. Using the t...

Measurements of the microlensing optical depth and event rate toward the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) can be used to probe the distribution and mass function of compact objects in the direction toward that galaxy - in the Milky Way disk, Milky Way dark matter halo, and the LMC itself. The previous measurements, based on small statistical samples of events, found that the optical depth is an order of magnitude smaller than that expected from the entire dark matter halo in the ...

We report the first discovery of a gravitational microlensing candidate towards a new population of source stars, the Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC). The candidate event's light curve shows no variation for 3 years before an upward excursion lasting $ \sim 217$ days that peaks around January 11, 1997 at a magnification of $ \sim 2.1$. Microlensing events towards the Large Magellanic Cloud and the Galactic bulge have allowed important conclusions to be reached on the stellar and...

The EROS and MACHO collaborations have reported observations of light curves of stars in the Large Magellanic Cloud that are compatible with gravitational microlensing by intervening massive objects, presumably Brown-Dwarf stars. The OGLE and MACHO teams have also seen similar events in the direction of the galactic Bulge. Current data are insufficient to decide whether the Brown-Dwarfs are dark-matter constituents of the non-luminous galactic Halo, or belong to a more conven...

The status of the microlensing search for galactic dark matter in the form of massive astronomical compact halo objects (machos) is reviewed. Unresolved issues are discussed, as well as possible ways to solve these.