Dark Matter Scenario Research Articles

Solar luminosity bounds on mirror matter

We present bounds on mirror dark matter scenario derived by using the effect of mirror matter on the luminosity of the Sun. In the perturbative regime where the mirror matter concentration is small relative to the ordinary matter we estimate the heat transfer from ordinary matter to the mirror sector by simple analytic consideration. That amount of heat transfer is radiated via mirror photons and increases the required energy production in order to maintain the observed luminosity. We then present more detailed numerical calculations of the total amount of this energy transfer.

Impact of Higgs portal on gravity-mediated production of superheavy dark matter

In the so-called Planckian Interacting Dark Matter (PIDM) scenario, superheavy dark matter particles are produced after inflation by gravity-mediated interactions through the freeze-in mechanism. In the minimal PIDM model, the absence of any additional direct coupling with Standard Model particles is assumed. However, for scalar dark matter particles there is no symmetry that suppresses the Higgs portal coupling. In this paper, we therefore study the impact of a non-zero interaction with the Higgs field on the PIDM paradigm for scalar dark matter. In particular, we fully explore the model parameter space in order to identify the allowed regions where the correct dark matter abundance is achieved. Moreover, we provide the threshold value for the Higgs portal coupling below which the corresponding production processes are sub-dominant and the minimal PIDM scenario is preserved. For a benchmark scalar dark matter mass of 1015 GeV, we find that the Higgs portal coupling has to be smaller than 5.1 × 10−8 (1.1 × 10−7) for instantaneous (non-instantaneous) reheating.

Connecting light dirac neutrinos to a multi-component dark matter scenario in gauged B-L model

We propose a new gauged B-L extension of the standard model where light neutrinos are of Dirac type, naturally acquiring sub-eV mass after electroweak symmetry breaking, without any additional global symmetries. This is realised by choosing a different B-L charge for right handed neutrinos than the usual -1 so that the Dirac Yukawa coupling involves an additional neutrinophilic scalar doublet instead of the usual Higgs doublet. The model can be made anomaly free by considering four additional chiral fermions which give rise to two massive Dirac fermions by appropriate choice of singlet scalars. The choice of scalars not only helps in achieving the desired particle mass spectra via spontaneous symmetry breaking, but also leaves a remnant Z_2 times Z'_2 symmetry to stabilise the two dark matter candidates. Apart from this interesting link between Dirac nature of light neutrinos and multi-component dark matter sector, we also find that the dark matter parameter space is constrained mostly by the cosmological upper limit on effective relativistic degrees of freedom Delta N_{mathrm{eff}} which gets enhanced in this model due to the thermalisation of the light right handed neutrinos by virtue of their sizeable B-L gauge interactions.

Dark photon dark matter in the presence of inhomogeneous structure

Dark photon dark matter will resonantly convert into visible photons when the dark photon mass is equal to the plasma frequency of the ambient medium. In cosmological contexts, this transition leads to an extremely efficient, albeit short-lived, heating of the surrounding gas. Existing work in this field has been predominantly focused on understanding the implications of these resonant transitions in the limit that the plasma frequency of the Universe can be treated as being perfectly homogeneous, i.e. neglecting inhomogeneities in the electron number density. In this work we focus on the implications of heating from dark photon dark matter in the presence of inhomogeneous structure (which is particularly relevant for dark photons with masses in the range 10−15 eV ≲ mA′ ≲ 10−12 eV), emphasizing both the importance of inhomogeneous energy injection, as well as the sensitivity of cosmological observations to the inhomogeneities themselves. More specifically, we derive modified constraints on dark photon dark matter from the Ly-α forest, and show that the presence of inhomogeneities allows one to extend constraints to masses outside of the range that would be obtainable in the homogeneous limit, while only slightly relaxing their strength. We then project sensitivity for near-future cosmological surveys that are hoping to measure the 21cm transition in neutral hydrogen prior to reionization, and demonstrate that these experiments will be extremely useful in improving sensitivity to masses near ∼ 10−14 eV, potentially by several orders of magnitude. Finally, we discuss implications for reionization, early star formation, and late-time y-type spectral distortions, and show that probes which are inherently sensitive to the inhomogeneous state of the Universe could resolve signatures unique to the light dark photon dark matter scenario, and thus offer a fantastic potential for a positive detection.

Implications of Milky Way substructures for the nature of dark matter

We study how the indirect observation of dark matter substructures in the Milky Way, using recent stellar stream studies, translates into constraints for different dark matter models. Particularly, we use the measured number of dark subhalos in the mass range $10^7-10^9\,{\rm M_{\odot}}$ to constrain modifications of the subhalo mass function compared to the cold dark matter scenario. We obtain the lower bounds $m_{\rm WDM} > 3.2\,{\rm keV}$ and $m_{\rm FDM} > 5.2\times 10^{-21}\,{\rm eV}$ on the warm dark matter and fuzzy dark matter particle mass, respectively. When dark matter is coupled to a dark radiation bath, we find that kinetic decoupling must take place at temperatures higher than $T_{\rm kd} > 0.7\,{\rm keV}$. We also discuss future prospects of stellar stream observations.

Dark matter filtering-out effect during a first-order phase transition

If the mass of dark matter is generated from a cosmological phase transition involving the nucleation of bubbles, the corresponding bubble walls can filter out dark matter particles during the phase transition. Only particles with sufficient momentum to overcome their mass inside the bubbles can pass through the walls. As a result, the dark matter number density after the phase transition has a suppression factor $\exp(-M_\chi/2\tilde \gamma T)$, where $M_\chi$ is the dark matter mass, and $\tilde \gamma$ and $T$ are the Lorentz factor and temperature of the incoming fluid in the bubble wall rest frame, respectively. Under certain assumptions, we show that the filtering-out process can naturally provide a large suppression consistent with the observed dark matter density for a wide range of dark matter masses up to the Planck scale. Since the first-order phase transition is the decisive ingredient in our mechanism, a new connection is made between heavy dark matter scenarios and gravitational wave observations.

COSINUS: Cryogenic Calorimeters for the Direct Dark Matter Search with NaI Crystals

COSINUS (Cryogenic Observatory for SIgnatures seen in Next-generation Underground Searches) is an experiment employing cryogenic calorimeters, dedicated to direct dark matter search in underground laboratories. Its goal is to cross-check the annual modulation signal the DAMA collaboration has been detecting for about 20 years (Bernabei et al. in Nucl Part Phys Proc 303–305:74–79, 2018. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nuclphysbps.2019.03.015) and which has been ruled out by other experiments in certain dark matter scenarios. COSINUS can provide a model-independent test by the use of the same target material (NaI), with the additional chance of discriminating beta /gamma events from nuclear recoils on an event-by-event basis, by the application of a well-established temperature sensor technology developed within the CRESST collaboration. Each module is constituted by two detectors: the light detector, that is a silicon beaker equipped with a transition edge sensor (TES), and the phonon detector, a small cubic NaI crystal interfaced with a carrier of a harder material (e.g. hbox {CdWO}_4), also instrumented with a TES. This technology had so far never been applied to NaI crystals because of several well-known obstacles, and COSINUS is the first experiment which succeeded in operating NaI crystals as cryogenic calorimeters. Here, we present the COSINUS project, describe the achievements and the challenges of the COSINUS prototype development and discuss the status and the perspectives of this NaI-based cryogenic frontier.

Minimal self-interacting dark matter models with light mediator

The light mediator scenario of self-interacting dark matter is strongly constrained in many ways. After summarizing the various constraints, we discuss minimal options and models which allow to nevertheless satisfy all these constraints. One straightforward possibility emerges if the dark matter and light mediator particles have a temperature sizably smaller than the SM particles. Another simple possibility arises if dark matter doesn't annihilate dominantly into a pair of light mediators but into heavier particles. Both possibilities are discussed with scalar as well as vector boson light mediators. Further possibilities, such as with a hierarchy of quartic scalar couplings, are also identified.

Stochastic axion dark matter in axion landscape

We study the stochastic axion dark matter scenario in the axion landscape, where one of the axions is light and stable and therefore explains dark matter. If the axion mass at the potential is a typical value of the curvature along the direction, the potential can be well approximated by a quadratic mass term. On the other hand, if the axion mass happens to be suppressed in the vicinity of the minimum, the potential may be approximated by a quartic potential plus a suppressed quadratic one, for which the initial angle, and thus the axion abundance, can be significantly suppressed compared to the quadratic case. We delineate the viable parameter region by taking account of various observational constraints, and find that a broader range of the inflation scale is allowed. Also, if the curvature of the potential is suppressed over a certain range of the potential, the onset of coherent oscillations can be delayed. Then, the axion dark matter with a small decay constant is possible. We also discuss the π\\hspace{-0.2mm}nflation mechanism to realize the hilltop initial condition in the stochastic axion scenario.

Proton decay and axion dark matter in SO(10) grand unification via minimal left\u2013right symmetry

We study the proton lifetime in the SO(10) Grand Unified Theory (GUT), which has the left–right (LR) symmetric gauge theory below the GUT scale. In particular, we focus on the minimal model without the bi-doublet Higgs field in the LR symmetric model, which predicts the LR-breaking scale at around 10^{10-12} GeV. The Wilson coefficients of the proton decay operators turn out to be considerably larger than those in the minimal SU(5) GUT model especially when the Standard Model Yukawa interactions are generated by integrating out extra vector-like multiplets. As a result, we find that the proton lifetime can be within the reach of the Hyper-Kamiokande experiment even when the GUT gauge-boson mass is in the 10^{16}–10^{17} GeV range. We also show that the mass of the extra vector-like multiplets can be generated by the Peccei–Quinn symmetry breaking in a consistent way with the axion dark matter scenario.

Connecting ANITA anomalous events to a nonthermal dark matter scenario

The ANtarctic Impulsive Transient Antenna (ANITA) collaboration has observed two EeV-energy, upward going events originating from below the horizon. As no standard model (SM) particles, propagating through the earth at such energy and exit angles, can give rise to the required survival probability for the observed events, several beyond standard model (BSM) proposals have come up. We propose a scenario where a $Z_2$ odd sector is responsible for such anomalous events. The next to lightest $Z_2$ odd particle or the next to lightest stable particle (NLSP), created from ultra high energy neutrino interactions with nucleons, can pass through the earth and then decay into the lightest $Z_2$ odd particle or the lightest stable particle (LSP) and a tau lepton. The long-lived nature of the NLSP requires its coupling with the LSP to be very small, keeping the LSP out of thermal equilibrium in the early universe. The LSP can then be a non-thermal dark matter while the tau leptons produced from NLSP decay after passing through the earth can explain the ANITA events. We first show that a purely non-thermal dark matter scenario can not give rise to the required event rates while a hybrid scenario where dark matter can have both thermal as a well non-thermal contribution to its relic abundance, serves the purpose.

Electron ionization via dark matter-electron scattering and the Migdal effect

There are currently several existing and proposed experiments designed to probe sub-GeV dark matter (DM) using electron ionization in various materials. The projected signal rates for these experiments assume that this ionization yield arises only from DM scattering directly off electron targets, ignoring secondary ionization contributions from DM scattering off nuclear targets. We investigate the validity of this assumption and show that if sub-GeV DM couples with comparable strength to both protons and electrons, as would be the case for a dark photon mediator, the ionization signal from atomic scattering via the Migdal effect scales with the atomic number $Z$ and 3-momentum transfer $\mathbf{q}$ as $Z^2 \mathbf{q}^2$. The result is that the Migdal effect is always subdominant to electron scattering when the mediator is light, but that Migdal-induced ionization can dominate over electron scattering for heavy mediators and DM masses in the hundreds of MeV range. We put these two ionization processes on identical theoretical footing, address some theoretical uncertainties in the choice of atomic wavefunctions used to compute rates, and discuss the implications for DM scenarios where the Migdal process dominates, including for XENON10, XENON100, and the recent XENON1T results on light DM scattering.

Gravitational atoms: General framework for the construction of multistate axially symmetric solutions of the Schrödinger-Poisson system

We present a general strategy to solve the stationary Schr\"odinger-Poisson (SP) system of equations for multistates with axial symmetry. The approach allows us to obtain the well known single and multistate solutions with spherical symmetry, Newtonian multistate $\ell-$boson stars and axially symmetric multistate configurations. For each case we construct particular examples that illustrate the method, whose stability properties are studied by numerically solving the time-dependent SP system. Among the stable configurations there are the mixed-two-state configurations including spherical and dipolar components, which might have an important value as potential anisotropic dark matter halos in the context of ultralight bosonic dark matter scenarios. This is the reason why we also present a possible process of formation of these mixed-two-state configurations that could open the door to the exploration of more general multistate structure formation scenarios.

On the radial acceleration of disc galaxies

ABSTRACT The physical processes defining the dynamics of disc galaxies are still poorly understood. Hundreds of articles have appeared in the literature over the last decades without arriving at an understanding within a consistent gravitational theory. Dark matter (DM) scenarios or a modification of Newtonian dynamics (MOND) are employed to model the non-Keplerian rotation curves in most of the studies, but the nature of DM and its interaction with baryonic matter remains an open question and MOND formulates a mathematical concept without a physical process. We have continued our attempts to use the impact theory of gravitation for a description of the peculiar acceleration and velocity curves and have considered five more galaxies. Using published data of the galaxies NGC 3198, NGC 2403, NGC 1090, UGC 3205, and NGC 1705, it has been possible to find good fits without DM for the observed disc velocities and, as example, also for the extraplanar matter of NGC 3198.

Common origin of modified chaotic inflation, nonthermal dark matter, and Dirac neutrino mass

We propose a minimal extension of the standard model of particle physics to accommodate cosmic inflation, dark matter and light neutrino masses. While the inflationary phase is obtained from a modified chaotic inflation scenario, consistent with latest cosmology data, the dark matter particle is a fermion singlet which remains out of equilibrium in the early universe. The scalar field which revives the chaotic inflation scenario by suitable modification also assists in generating tiny couplings of dark matter with its mother particle, naturally realizing the non-thermal or freeze-in type dark matter scenario. Interestingly, the same assisting scalar field also helps in realizing tiny Yukawa couplings required to generate sub-eV Dirac neutrino mass from neutrino couplings to the standard model like Higgs field. The minimality as well as providing a unified solution to all three problems keep the model predictive at experiments spanning out to all frontiers.

Explaining the AMS positron excess via right-handed neutrinos

We have witnessed in the past decade the observation of a puzzling cosmic-ray excess at energies larger than $10$ GeV. The AMS-02 data published this year has new ingredients such as the bump around $300$ GeV followed by a drop at $800$ GeV, as well as smaller error bars. Adopting the background used by the AMS-02 collaboration in their analysis, one can conclude that previous explanations to the new AMS-02 such as one component annihilating and decaying dark matter as well as pulsars seem to fail at reproducing the data. Here, we show that in the right-handed neutrino portal might reside the answer. We discuss a decaying two-component dark matter scenario where the two-body decay products are right-handed neutrinos that have their decay pattern governed by the type I seesaw mechanism. This setup provides a very good fit to data, for example, for a conservative approach including just statistical uncertainties leads to $\chi^2/d.o.f \sim 2.3$ for $m_{DM_1}=2150$ GeV with $\tau_{1}=3.78 \times 10^{26}$ s and $m_{DM_2}=300$ with $\tau_{2}=5.0 \times 10^{27}$ s for $M_N=10$ GeV, and, in an optimistic case, including systematic uncertainties, we find $\chi^2/d.o.f \sim 1.12$, for $M_N = 10$ GeV, with $m_{DM_1}=2200$ GeV with $\tau_{1}=3.8 \times 10^{26}$ s and $m_{DM_2}=323$ GeV with $\tau_{2}=1.68 \times 10^{27}$ s.

A generalized Higgs potential with two degenerate minima for a dark QCD matter scenario

We consider the Higgs potential in generalizations of the Standard Model. The possibility of the potential to develop two almost degenerate minima is explored. This would imply that QCD matter at two distinct sets of quark masses is relevant for astrophysics and cosmology. If in the exotic minimum the QCD matter ground state is electromagnetically neutral, dark matter may consist of QCD matter and antimatter in bubbles of the Higgs field. We predict an abundance of gamma rays in the few MeV region as messengers of dark matter regions in space. In addition the ratio of dark matter to normal matter is expected to show a time dependence.

Interpretation of the cosmic ray positron and electron excesses with an annihilating-decaying dark matter scenario

The precise measurements of energy spectra of cosmic ray positrons and/or electrons by recent experiments show clear excesses above 10 GeV. Moreover, a potential sharp spectral feature was suggested by the Dark Matter Particle Explorer (DAMPE) data. These results inspire quite a number of discussions on the connection with either the annihilation/decay of dark matter (DM) or the astrophysical origins. Here we discuss a DM scenario in which DM particles could annihilate and decay into standard model particle pairs simultaneously. In this model, the peak structure is due to the DM annihilation in a nearby subhalo and the broad positron/electron excesses are due to the decay of DM in the Milky Way. This model can reasonably explain the DAMPE and AMS-02 data of the total e^+e^− spectra and the positron fraction, with model parameters being consistent with existing constraints. A simple realization of such a DM model is the spin-1 vector DM model.

Multicomponent dark matter in extended U(1)B−L: neutrino mass and high scale validity

Standard Model with right handed neutrinos charged under additional U(1)B−L gauge symmetry offer solutions to both dark matter (DM) problem and neutrino mass generation, although constrained severely from relic density, direct search and Higgs vacuum stability. We therefore investigate a multicomponent DM scenario augmented by an extra inert scalar doublet, that is neutral under U(1)B−L, which aids to enlarge parameter space allowed by DM constraints and Higgs vacuum stability. The lightest right-handed neutrino and the CP-even inert scalar are taken as the dark matter candidates and constitute a two component dark matter framework as they are rendered stable by an unbroken ℤ2 × ℤ2′ symmetry. DM-DM conversion processes turn out crucial to render requisite relic abundance in mass regions of the RH neutrino that do not appear in the stand-alone U(1)B−L scenario. In addition, the one-loop renormalisation group (RG) equations in this model demonstrate that the electroweak (EW) vacuum can be stabilised till ∼ 109 GeV in a parameter region compatible with the observed relic, the direct detection bound and other relevant constraints. We finally comment on the possibility of including the freeze-in mechanism in the same set-up.

Multi-component scalar dark matter from a ZN symmetry: a systematic analysis

The dark matter may consist not of one elementary particle but of different species, each of them contributing a fraction of the observed dark matter density. A major theoretical difficulty with this scenario — dubbed multi-component dark matter — is to explain the stability of these distinct particles. Imposing a single ZN symmetry, which may be a remnant of a spontaneously broken U(1) gauge symmetry, seems to be the simplest way to simultaneously stabilize several dark matter particles. In this paper we systematically study scenarios for multi-component dark matter based on various ZN symmetries (N ≤ 10) and with different sets of scalar fields charged under it. A generic feature of these scenarios is that the number of stable particles is not determined by the Lagrangian but depends on the relations among the masses of the different fields charged under the ZN symmetry. We explicitly obtain and illustrate the regions of parameter space that are consistent with up to five dark matter particles. For N odd, all these particles turn out to be complex, whereas for N even one of them may be real. Within this framework, many new models for multi-component dark matter can be implemented.