Dark Matter Detection Research Articles

Game-Changer in Chemistry: Applying Advanced Techniques to Unveil Dark Matter Interactions

Aim: This systematic review examines potential connections between dark matter and chemical processes, focusing on weak interactions similar to neutrinos and a proposed experimental design for detecting dark matter interactions at the nuclear level. Neutrinos, though weakly interacting, may cluster under extreme conditions, providing new insights into dark matter detection (Friedland & Giannotti 2008) [8]. Background: Dark matter, constituting 85% of the universe’s mass, is invisible to direct detection methods (Bertone & Hooper, 2018; Peebles, 1982) [4, 12]. While its gravitational influence shapes cosmic structures and environments for chemical reactions, this review emphasizes potential interactions between dark matter and atomic nuclei, applying neutrino detection methods as a framework (Liddle & Lyth, 2000) [11]. Although neutrinos generally do not interact strongly with matter, under specific extreme or hypothetical conditions, they might cluster into larger structures. These conditions could include increased neutrino mass, stronger gravitational interactions, or the presence of a new force (Garrett & Duda 2011) [9]. Such scenarios might occur near black holes or in the early universe (Bahcall et al. 1999) [3]. This idea adds an intriguing dimension to the potential behaviors of neutrinos and could influence how we approach dark matter detection. Method: To maintain consistency: A comprehensive review of astrophysics, chemistry, and particle physics literature was conducted to explore detection techniques used in neutrino research and apply them to dark matter interactions (Cirelli, 2009) [5]. A hypothetical experiment involving nuclear resonance and weak nuclear interactions was proposed. Results: Neutrino detection technologies offer a valuable model for experiments aimed at capturing dark matter interactions. (Friedland & Giannotti, 2008) [8]. This could lead to breakthroughs in understanding dark matter's role in nuclear chemistry. Conclusion: Dark matter's elusive nature remains a significant challenge for detection, but its potential weak interactions with nuclei, akin to those of neutrinos, offer a promising experimental pathway. This review highlights the importance of experimental designs targeting these subtle interactions and suggests that discovering dark matter's chemical-like properties could revolutionize the field of chemistry (Garrett & Duda, 2011; Bahcall et al., 1999) [9, 3].

Echo-free quality factor of a multilayer axion haloscope

We report a methodology to determine the quality factor (Q) of wavy dark matter detectors equipped with multilayered resonators, including Fabry-Pérot interferometers and the so-called dielectric haloscope. An anechoic chamber enables the observation of the resonance frequency and its amplitude for an unlimited series of layers for the first time, which is conveniently filtered. The frequency-normalized power enhancement measured in a Dark Photons and Axionlike Particles Interferometer (DALI) prototype is a few hundred per layer over a sweep bandwidth of a few dozen of megahertz. In light of this result, this scaled-down prototype is sensitive to axions saturating the local dark matter density with a coupling to photons between gaγγ≳10−12 and gaγγ≳few×10−14 GeV−1 at frequencies of several dozens of gigahertz once cooled down to the different working temperatures of the experiment and immersed in magnetic fields ranging from about 1 to 10 T; while the sensitivity of the full-scale DALI is projected at gaγγ≳few×10−15 GeV−1 over the entire 25–250 μeV range since Q≳104 is expected. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

Prospects for Light Dark Matter Searches at Large-Volume Neutrino Detectors

We propose a new approach to search for light dark matter (DM), with keV–GeV mass, via inelastic nucleus scattering at large-volume neutrino detectors such as Borexino, DUNE, Super-K, Hyper-K, and JUNO. The approach uses inelastic nuclear scattering of cosmic-ray boosted DM, enabling a low-background search for DM in these experiments. Large neutrino detectors, with higher thresholds than dark matter detectors, can be used, since the nuclear deexcitation lines are O(10) MeV. Using a hadrophilic dark-gauge-boson-portal model as a benchmark, we show that the nuclear inelastic channels generally provide better sensitivity than the elastic scattering for a large region of light DM parameter space. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

CYGν\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$\ u $$\\end{document}S: detecting solar neutrinos with directional gas time projection chambers

Cygnus is a proposed global network of large-scale gas time projection chambers (TPCs) with the capability of directionally detecting nuclear and electron recoils at ≳\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$\\gtrsim $$\\end{document}keV energies. The primary focus of Cygnus so far has been the detection of dark matter, with directional sensitivity providing a means of circumventing the so-called “neutrino fog”. However, the excellent background rejection and electron/nuclear recoil discrimination provided by the 3-dimensional reconstruction of ionisation tracks could turn the solar neutrino background into an interesting signal in its own right. For example, directionality would facilitate the simultaneous spectroscopy of multiple different flux sources. Here, we evaluate the possibility of measuring solar neutrinos using the same network of gas TPCs built from 10 m3\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$^3$$\\end{document}-scale modules operating under conditions that enable simultaneous sensitivity to both dark matter and neutrinos. We focus in particular on electron recoils, which provide access to low-energy neutrino fluxes like pp, pep, 7\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$^7$$\\end{document}Be, and CNO. An appreciable event rate is already detectable in experiments consisting of a single 10 m3\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$^3$$\\end{document} module, assuming standard fill gases such as CF4\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$_4$$\\end{document} mixed with helium at atmospheric pressure. With total volumes around 1000 m3\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$^3$$\\end{document} or higher, the TPC network could be complementary to dedicated neutrino observatories, whilst entering the dark-matter neutrino fog via the nuclear recoil channel. We evaluate the required directional performance and background conditions to observe, discriminate, and perform spectroscopy on neutrino events. We find that, under reasonable projections for planned technology that will enable 10–30-degree angular resolution and ∼10\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$\\sim 10$$\\end{document}% fractional energy resolution, Cygnus could be a competitive directional neutrino experiment.

Revisiting the decoupling limit of the Georgi-Machacek model with a scalar singlet

We study the connection between collider and dark matter phenomenology in the singlet extension of the Georgi-Machacek model. In this framework, the singlet scalar serves as a suitable thermal dark matter (DM) candidate. Our focus lies on the region vχ< 1 GeV, where vχ is the common vacuum expectation value of the neutral components of the scalar triplets of the model. Setting bounds on the model parameters from theoretical, electroweak precision and LHC experimental constraints, we find that the BSM Higgs sector is highly constrained. Allowed values for the masses of the custodial fiveplets, triplets and singlet are restricted to the range 140 GeV <MH50\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$ {M}_{H_5^0} $$\\end{document}< 350 GeV, 150 GeV <MH30\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$ {M}_{H_3^0} $$\\end{document}< 270 GeV and 145 GeV < MH< 300 GeV. The extended scalar sector provides new channels for DM annihilation into BSM scalars that allow to satisfy the observed relic density constraint while being consistent with direct DM detection limits. The allowed region of the parameter space of the model can be explored in the upcoming DM detection experiments, both direct and indirect. In particular, the possible high values of BR(H50\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$ {H}_5^0 $$\\end{document} → γγ) can lead to an indirect DM signal within the reach of CTA. The same feature also provides the possibility of exploring the model at the High-Luminosity run of the LHC. In a simple cut-based analysis, we find that a signal of about 4σ significance can be achieved in final states with at least two photons for one of our benchmark points.

PSF calibration of DAMPE for gamma-ray observations

The DArk Matter Particle Explorer (DAMPE) is dedicated to exploring critical scientific domains including the indirect detection of dark matter, cosmic ray physics, and gamma ray astronomy. This study introduces a novel method for calibrating the Point Spread Function (PSF) of DAMPE, specifically designed to enhance the accuracy of gamma-ray observations. By leveraging data from regions near pulsars and bright Active Galactic Nuclei (AGNs), we have refined the PSF calibration process, resulting in an improved angular resolution that closely matches our observational data. This advancement significantly boosts the precision of gamma-ray detection by DAMPE, thereby contributing to its mission objectives in dark matter detection and gamma ray astronomy.

Design of a triggerless readout electronics system for CDEX-50

Direct detection of light-mass dark matter is a frontier topic in international physics research. The reduction of system threshold is important in order to improve the sensitivity of light-mass dark matter detection. The scientific goal of the China Dark Matter Experiment (CDEX) at Jinping Underground Laboratory in China is to detect WIMPs utilizing a high-purity germanium array detector. CDEX-10 achieved the most sensitive results in the 4 to 5 GeV/c 2 range. CDEX-50 aims to achieve an energy threshold of 100 eV, which significantly increases data bandwidth and complicates the implementation of noise reduction algorithms, thereby posing challenges to the readout electronics system. In this paper, a triggerless readout electronics system based on FPGA-GPU is designed for CDEX-50, which can achieve full energy range detection from 100 eV to 10 MeV. A verification prototype of a triggerless electronics system utilizing a Broad Energy Germanium (BEGe) detector has been developed to test the performance of high-bandwidth transmission and data processing. The results demonstrate that the bit error rate for the high-speed transmission link of the triggerless readout electronics system is below 1015. Furthermore, the FPGA-GPU transmission bandwidth, utilizing P2P DMA, achieves 100.2 Gbps, and the mean filter implemented on the GPU is capable of processing a 64 Gbps data stream in real-time. These results provide foundation for the design of the triggerless readout electronics system for CDEX-50.

Deciphering the Kinematic Substructure of Local Dark Matter with LAMOST K Giants

Numerical simulations indicate that correlations exist between the velocity distributions of stars and dark matter (DM). We study the local DM velocity distribution based on these correlations. We select K giants from LAMOST DR8 cross-matched with Gaia DR3, which have robust measurements of velocity and metallicity, and separate them into the disk, halo substructure, and isotropic halo components in the chemodynamical space utilizing the Gaussian mixture model. The substructure component is highly radially anisotropic and possibly related to the Gaia–Enceladus–Sausage (GES) merger event, while the isotropic halo component is accreted from the earliest mergers following the Maxwell–Boltzmann distribution (standard halo model [SHM]). We find that the GES-like substructure contributes ∼85% of the local nondisk stars in the solar neighborhood, which is nearly invariant when applying different volume cuts or additional angular momentum constraints. Utilizing the metallicity–stellar mass relation and the stellar mass–halo mass relation, we find that ∼25−15+24% of local DM is in the kinematic substructure. Combined with the stellar distributions of nondisk components, we modify the heliocentric velocity distribution of local DM. It shifts to a lower speed with a sharper peak compared to the SHM and updates the detection limits of DM direct detection experiments. We discuss extensively the degeneracies present in the GMM fitting and propose that more kinematic and chemical information such as α abundance could help to break the degeneracy in the future. Our work confirms that the local DM velocity distribution deviates significantly from the SHM and needs to be properly accounted for in the DM detection experiments.

Principles of the wave dark matter detection in gravitational redshift experiments in the Solar System

Principles of the wave dark matter detection in gravitational redshift experiments in the Solar System

Axion detection via superfluid 3He ferromagnetic phase and quantum measurement techniques

We propose to use the nuclear spin excitation in the ferromagnetic A1 phase of the superfluid 3He for the axion dark matter detection. This approach is striking in that it is sensitive to the axion-nucleon coupling, one of the most important features of the QCD axion introduced to solve the strong CP problem. We review a quantum mechanical description of the nuclear spin excitation and apply it to the estimation of the axion-induced spin excitation rate. We also describe a possible detection method of the spin excitation in detail and show that the combination of the squeezing of the final state with the Josephson parametric amplifier and the homodyne measurement can enhance the sensitivity. It turns out that this approach gives good sensitivity to the axion dark matter with the mass of O\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$ \\mathcal{O} $$\\end{document}(1) μeV depending on the size of the external magnetic field. We estimate the parameters of experimental setups, e.g., the detector volume and the amplitude of squeezing, required to reach the QCD axion parameter space.

Probing light inelastic dark matter from direct detection

For dark matter (DM) direct detections, the kinematic effects such as those of the inelastic scattering can play important role in light DM searches. The light DM detection is generally difficult because of its small recoil energy. But the recoil energy of the exothermic inelastic DM scattering could exceed the detection threshold due to the contribution from the DM mass-splitting, making the direct detection of sub-GeV DM feasible. In this work, we systematically study signatures of the light exothermic inelastic DM from the recoil spectra including both the DM-electron scattering and Migdal effect. Such inelastic DM has mass around (sub-)GeV scale with DM mass-splitting of O(1−102) keV. We analyze the direct detection sensitivities to such light inelastic DM. For different inelastic DM masses and mass-splittings, we find that the DM-electron recoil and Migdal effect can contribute significantly and differently to the direct detection signatures. The DM-lepton and/or DM-quark interactions may vary for different DM models, and their interplay leads to a diversity in the recoil spectra. Hence, it is important to perform a combined analysis to include both the DM-electron recoil and Migdal effect. We further demonstrate that this analysis has strong impacts on the cosmological and laboratory bounds for the inelastic DM.

First Results from the Axion Dark-Matter Birefringent Cavity (ADBC) Experiment.

Axions and axionlike particles are strongly motivated dark-matter candidates that are the subject of many current ground based dark-matter searches. We present first results from the Axion Dark-Matter Birefringent Cavity (ADBC) experiment, which is an optical bow-tie cavity probing the axion-induced birefringence of electromagnetic waves. Our experiment is the first optical axion detector that is tunable and quantum noise limited, making it sensitive to a wide range of axion masses. We have iteratively probed the axion mass ranges 40.9-43.3 neV/c^{2}, 49.3-50.6 neV/c^{2}, and 54.4-56.7 neV/c^{2}, and found no dark-matter signal. On average, we constrain the axionlike particle and photon coupling at the level g_{aγγ}≤1.9×10^{-8} GeV^{-1}. We also present prospects for future axion dark-matter detection experiments using optical cavities.

Complex electromagnetism and coupled gravitational-electromagnetic waves in the interstellar medium

Gravito-electromagnetism is an approximation of general relativity that has significant analogies to electromagnetism. We show that the remained asymmetry in those two field equations and the equations of motion can be alleviated through appropriate scaling on the complex plane, thereby allowing gravity and electromagnetism to be combined into a single set of equations for analysis. This enables a more concise and intuitive interpretation of mixed-field interactions of the interstellar medium. The interstellar medium, composed of ionized gas, interacts with both gravitational and electromagnetic fields, and within this medium, gravitational and electromagnetic waves exist in a coupled form. We derive the dispersion relation of these coupled waves tied by the interstellar medium and discuss two branches of wave solutions. These two solutions correspond to the well-known pure gravitational and electromagnetic waves in the classical limit. Based on the characteristics of this coupled wave, we discuss the possible generation of gravitational waves in the interstellar medium and the abnormal behaviors in a medium composed of dark matter that may provide a new methodology for dark matter detection.

Monte Carlo calculations of cryogenic photodetector readout of scintillating GaAs for dark matter detection

The recent discovery that GaAs(Si,B) is a bright cryogenic scintillator with no apparent afterglow offers new opportunities for detecting rare, low-energy, electronic excitations from interacting dark matter. This paper presents Monte Carlo calculations of the scintillation photon detection efficiencies of optical cavities using three current cryogenic photodetector technologies. In order of photon detection efficiency these are: (1) Ge/TES: germanium absorbers that convert interacting photons to athermal phonons that are readout by transition edge sensors, (2) KID: kinetic induction detectors that respond to the breaking of cooper pairs by a change in resonance frequency, and (3) SNSPD: superconducting nanowire single photon detectors, where a photon briefly transitions a thin wire from superconducting to normal. The detection efficiencies depend strongly on the n-type GaAs absolute absorption coefficient KA, which is a part of the narrow beam absorption that has never been directly measured. However, the high cryogenic scintillation luminosity of GaAs(Si,B) sets an upper limit on KA of 0.03/cm. Using that value and properties published for Ge/TES, KID, and SNSPD photodetectors, this work calculates that those photodetectors attached to opposing faces of a 1 cm3 cubic GaAs(Si,B) crystal in an optical cavity with gold mirrors would have scintillation photon detection efficiencies of 35%, 25%, and 8%, respectively. Larger values would be expected for lower values of KA.

Abatement of ionizing radiation for superconducting quantum devices

Ionizing radiation has been shown to reduce the performance of superconducting quantum circuits. In this report, we evaluate the expected contributions of different sources of ambient radioactivity for typical superconducting qubit experiment platforms. Our assessment of radioactivity inside a typical cryostat highlights the importance of selecting appropriate materials for the experiment components nearest to qubit devices, such as packaging and electrical interconnects. We present a shallow underground facility (30-meter water equivalent) to reduce the flux of cosmic rays and a lead shielded cryostat to abate the naturally occurring radiogenic gamma-ray flux in the laboratory environment. We predict that superconducting qubit devices operated in this facility could experience a reduced rate of correlated multi-qubit errors by a factor of approximately 20 relative to the rate in a typical above-ground, unshielded facility. Finally, we outline overall design improvements that would be required to further reduce the residual ionizing radiation rate, down to the limit of current generation direct detection dark matter experiments.

Prospects for measuring the time variation of astrophysical neutrino sources at dark matter detectors

We study the prospects for measuring the time variation of solar and atmospheric neutrino fluxes at future large-scale xenon and argon dark matter detectors. For solar neutrinos, a yearly time variation arises from the eccentricity of Earth’s orbit and, for charged current interactions, from a smaller energy-dependent day-night variation due to flavor regeneration as neutrinos travel through Earth. For a 100-ton xenon detector running for ten years with a xenon-136 fraction of ≲0.1%, in the electron recoil channel a time-variation amplitude of about 0.8% is detectable with a power of 90% and the level of significance of 10%. This is sufficient to detect time variation due to eccentricity, which has amplitude of ∼3%. In the nuclear recoil channel, the detectable amplitude is about 10% under current detector resolution and efficiency conditions, and this generally reduces to about 1% for improved detector resolution and efficiency, the latter of which is sufficient to detect time variation due to eccentricity. Our analysis assumes both known and unknown periods. We provide scalings to determine the sensitivity to an arbitrary time-varying amplitude as a function of detector parameters. Identifying the time variation of the neutrino fluxes will be important for distinguishing neutrinos from dark matter signals and other detector-related backgrounds and extracting properties of neutrinos that can be uniquely studied in dark matter experiments. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

Realism and the detection of dark matter

A number of philosophers claim that realism about dark matter in cosmology is unwarranted because there has been no empirical confirmation of a dark matter particle. This demand is misguided. I argue that we should take the theoretical concept of dark matter as described in our best cosmological model (ΛCDM) at face value. Since there is no theoretical or nomological requirement that dark matter be a particle, we should better assess the implications of dark matter detection via gravitational lensing. The result is that realism about dark matter is a viable position.

The data acquisition system of the LZ dark matter detector: FADR

The Data Acquisition System (DAQ) for the LUX-ZEPLIN (LZ) dark matter detector is described. The signals from 745 PMTs, distributed across three subsystems, are sampled with 100-MHz 32-channel digitizers (DDC-32s). A basic waveform analysis is carried out on the on-board Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) to extract information about the observed scintillation and electroluminescence signals. This information is used to determine if the digitized waveforms should be preserved for offline analysis.The system is designed around the Kintex-7 FPGA. In addition to digitizing the PMT signals and providing basic event selection in real time, the flexibility provided by the use of FPGAs allows us to monitor the performance of the detector and the DAQ in parallel to normal data acquisition.The hardware and software/firmware of this FPGA-based Architecture for Data acquisition and Realtime monitoring (FADR) are discussed and performance measurements are described.

Exploring hidden signal: Fine-tuning ResNet-50 for dark matter detection

In pursuit of detecting dark matter signals, the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN has conducted proton-proton collisions to probe for these elusive particles, whose existence has been supported by astronomical observations. Despite extensive efforts by the CMS and ATLAS experiments, the direct detection of dark matter signals remains elusive. The current approaches employed for analyzing dark matter signatures utilize the cut-and-count method based on conventional techniques. This study introduces an alternative method for exploring dark matter signatures by utilizing fine-tuning of pre-trained models, such as ResNet-50, on 2D histograms generated from a combination of signal + background samples and background-only samples. By utilizing various signal-to-background ratios as benchmarks, an accuracy of about 90% for a signal-to-background ratio of 0.008 is achieved. This approach not only offers a more refined search for dark matter signals but also presents an efficient and effective means of analysis using machine learning techniques.

Dark sink enhances the direct detection of freeze-in dark matter

We describe a simple dark sector structure which, if present, has implications for the direct detection of dark matter (DM); . A dark sink transports energy density from the DM into light dark-sector states that do not appreciably contribute to the DM density. As an example, we consider a light, neutral fermion ψ which interacts solely with DM χ via the exchange of a heavy scalar Φ. We illustrate the impact of a dark sink by adding one to a DM freeze-in model in which χ couples to a light dark photon γ′ which kinetically mixes with the Standard Model (SM) photon. This freeze-in model (absent the sink) is itself a benchmark for ongoing experiments. In some cases, the literature for this benchmark has contained errors; we correct the predictions and provide them as a public code. We then analyze how the dark sink modifies this benchmark, solving coupled Boltzmann equations for the dark-sector energy density and DM yield. We check the contribution of the dark sink ψ’s to dark radiation; consistency with existing data limits the maximum attainable cross section. For DM with a mass between MeV−O(10 GeV), adding the dark sink can increase predictions for the direct detection cross section all the way up to the current limits. Published by the American Physical Society 2024