ABSTRACT:

In this talk, I explore the impact of stellar kinematics on understanding the particle nature of Dark Matter in three separate locations: the solar neighborhood, the Galactic center, and dwarf galaxies. I first discuss the implications of the different stellar components on direct detection experiments. To do so, I show how I can use the velocity distribution of stars in the solar neighborhood to determine the empirical velocity distribution of Dark Matter, including the effect of Nyx, a new stellar stream that I discovered in the solar vicinity. Second, I use an example of a Dark Matter candidate annihilating to gamma rays in the Galactic Center to motivate the need for accurate measurements of the Dark Matter density profile, and show how to use current and future stellar measurements from Gaia to obtain such density profile. Finally, I motivate the need for better strategies to extract the density profiles of dwarf galaxies, and show how simulations of self-interacting and dissipative Dark Matter in dwarfs can be used to probe its particle nature.