Dark Photon Research Articles

Multimessenger search for electrophilic feebly interacting particles from supernovae

We study MeV-scale electrophilic feebly interacting particles (FIPs), that may be abundantly produced in supernova explosions, escape the star and decay into electrons and positrons. This exotic injection of leptons in the Milky Way leaves an imprint in both photon and cosmic ray fluxes. Specifically, positrons lose energy and annihilate almost at rest with background electrons, producing photons with 511 keV energy. In addition, electrons and positrons radiate photons through bremsstrahlung emission and upscatter the low-energy galactic photon fields via the inverse Compton process generating a broad emission from x-ray to γ ray energies. Finally, electrons and positrons are directly observable in cosmic ray experiments. In order to describe the FIP-induced lepton injection in full generality, we use a model-independent parametrization which can be applied to a host of FIPs such as axionlike particles, dark photons and sterile neutrinos. Theoretical predictions are compared to experimental data to robustly constrain FIP-electron interactions with an innovative multimessenger analysis. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

Detecting boosted dark photons with gaseous detectors

We search for indirect signals of O(keV) dark matter annihilating or decaying into O(eV) dark photons. These dark photons will be highly boosted, predominantly transversely polarized, have decay lengths larger than the Milky Way, and can be absorbed by neutrino or dark matter experiments at a rate dependent on the photon-dark photon kinetic mixing parameter and the optical properties of the experiment. We show that current experiments cannot probe new parameter space, but future large-scale gaseous detectors with low backgrounds (i.e., CYGNUS, NEXT, PANDAX-III) may be sensitive to this signal when the annihilation cross section is especially large. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

Probing dark photons from a light scalar at Belle II

In the minimal U(1) extension of the Standard Model (SM), a new gauge boson referred to as “dark photon” is predicted. The dark-photon mass can be generated from an additional Higgs mechanism associated with a dark scalar boson. At B-factories such as Belle II, large numbers of B-mesons are produced and can decay to a kaon plus the dark scalar via the latter’s mixing with the SM Higgs boson. We evaluate the sensitivity of Belle II for the case in which the dark scalar decays exclusively into a pair of dark photons via the new U(1) gauge coupling, and the dark photons are long lived owing to a small kinetic mixing ϵ. We study the experimental signature in which each dark photon decays into a pair of charged leptons, pions, or kaons, resulting in a pair of displaced vertices, and argue that the search is essentially background-free. We perform detailed Monte-Carlo simulations to determine the expected number of signal events at Belle II with an integrated luminosity of 50 ab−1, taking into account the efficiencies for both final-state-particle identification and displaced tracking. We find that for experimentally allowed values of the scalar mixing angle and kinematically allowed dark-photon and dark-scalar masses, the proposed search is uniquely sensitive to the medium-ϵ regime, which is currently mostly unexcluded by experiments.

Complete EFT operator bases for dark matter and weakly-interacting light particle

The standard model can be extended to include weakly-interacting light particle (WILP): real or complex singlet scalar with a conserved U(1) charge, Majorana or Dirac neutral fermion, neutral or hidden-charged vector boson, etc. Imposing the Z2 symmetry, these particles can be lifted as the weakly-interacting massive particle (WIMP), the candidate of dark matter. Instead, imposing the shift symmetry on the scalar components gives rise to the axion-like particle, dark photon, etc. Utilizing these light degrees of freedom along with the standard model particles and imposing different symmetries, we construct the complete and independent sets of effective operators up to dimension eight with the Young tensor technique, consistent with counting from the Hilbert series.

Dark photon–dark energy stationary axisymmetric black holes

Dark photon–dark energy stationary axisymmetric black holes

CMB spectral distortions from an axion-dark photon-photon interaction

The presence of a plethora of light spin 0 and spin 1 fields is motivated in a number of BSM scenarios, such as the axiverse. The study of the interactions of such light bosonic fields with the Standard Model has focused mostly on interactions involving only one such field, such as the axion (ϕ) coupling to photons, \\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$\\phi F\\widetilde{F}$$\\end{document}, or the kinetic mixing between photon and the dark photon, FFD. In this work, we continue the exploration of interactions involving two light BSM fields and the standard model, focusing on the mixed axion-photon-dark-photon interaction \\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$\\phi F{\\widetilde{F}}_{D}$$\\end{document}. If either the axion or dark photon are dark matter, we show that this interaction leads to conversion of the CMB photons into a dark sector particle, leading to a distortion in the CMB spectrum. We present the details of these unique distortion signatures and the resulting constraints on the \\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$\\phi F{\\widetilde{F}}_{D}$$\\end{document} coupling. In particular, we find that for a wide range of masses, the constraints from these effect are stronger than on the more widely studied axion-photon coupling.

Search for long-lived particles decaying to final states with a pair of muons in proton-proton collisions at s\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$ \\sqrt{s} $$\\end{document} = 13.6 TeV

An inclusive search for long-lived exotic particles (LLPs) decaying to final states with a pair of muons is presented. The search uses data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 36.6 fb−1 collected by the CMS experiment from the proton-proton collisions at s\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$ \\sqrt{s} $$\\end{document} = 13.6 TeV in 2022, the first year of Run 3 of the CERN LHC. The experimental signature is a pair of oppositely charged muons originating from a secondary vertex spatially separated from the proton-proton interaction point by distances ranging from several hundred μm to several meters. The sensitivity of the search benefits from new triggers for displaced dimuons developed for Run 3. The results are interpreted in the framework of the hidden Abelian Higgs model, in which the Higgs boson decays to a pair of long-lived dark photons, and of an R-parity violating supersymmetry model, in which long-lived neutralinos decay to a pair of muons and a neutrino. The limits set on these models are the most stringent to date in wide regions of lifetimes for LLPs with masses larger than 10 GeV.

Explaining the B+→K+νν¯\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$B^+\\rightarrow K^+ \ u \\bar{\ u }$$\\end{document} excess via a massless dark photon

The Belle II collaboration has recently observed the rare decay B+→K+νν¯\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$B^+\\rightarrow K^+ \ u \\bar{\ u }$$\\end{document}, finding an excess with respect to the Standard Model prediction. We explore the possibility that the data entails long-distance interactions induced by a massless dark photon, γD\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$\\gamma _{\\scriptscriptstyle {D}}$$\\end{document}. This couples at the tree-level to an invisible, dark sector and to the Standard Model via higher-dimensional operators, such as the chromomagnetic-dipole coupling that we use to explain the excess. As the process B+→K+γD\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$B^+\\rightarrow K^+ \\gamma _{\\scriptscriptstyle {D}}$$\\end{document} is forbidden by angular momentum conservation, the transition mediated by the off-shell dark photon yields a three-body final state comprising a pair of dark fermions that show as a missing energy continuum in the detector, faking the neutrino signature. We show that the Belle II data is explained for perturbative values of the parameters of the model. This scenario predicts new contributions to the neutral B meson decays B0→K∗γD\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$B^0\\rightarrow K^* \\gamma _{\\scriptscriptstyle {D}}$$\\end{document}, in which the emission of a on-shell dark photon is allowed, yielding a monochromatic missing energy signature. Analogously, an excess due to the emission of a dark photon is predicted for the Bs0→ϕ+Emiss\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$B^0_s\\rightarrow \\phi + E_\ extrm{miss}$$\\end{document} decay that could be scrutinized next at the LHCb experiments.

Constraining dark photons with self-consistent simulations of globular cluster stars

We revisit stellar constraints on dark photons. We undertake dynamical stellar evolution simulations which incorporate the resonant and off-resonant production of transverse and longitudinal dark photons. We compare our results with observables derived from measurements of globular cluster populations, obtaining new constraints based on the luminosity of the tip of the red-giant branch (RGB), the ratio of populations of RGB to horizontal branch (HB) stars (the R-parameter), and the ratio of asymptotic giant branch to HB stars (the R 2-parameter). We find that previous bounds derived from static stellar models do not capture the effects of the resonant production of light dark photons leading to overly conservative constraints, and that they over-estimate the effects of heavier dark photons on the RGB-tip luminosity. This leads to differences in the constraints of up to an order of magnitude in the kinetic mixing parameter.

Bubble misalignment mechanism for axions

We study the dynamics of axions at first-order phase transitions in non-Abelian gauge theories. When the duration of the phase transition is short compared to the timescale of the axion oscillations, the axion dynamics is similar to the trapped misalignment mechanism. On the other hand, if this is not the case, the axions are initially expelled from the inside of the bubbles, generating axion waves on the outside. Analogous to the Fermi acceleration, these axions gain energy by repeatedly scattering off the bubble walls. Once they acquire enough energy, they can enter the bubbles. If the axion oscillations are relevant only inside the bubbles during the phase transition, the axion abundance is significantly enhanced compared to models where the axion mass is either constant or varies continuously as a function of temperature. The increase in axion abundance depends on the axion mass, the duration of the phase transition, and the bubble wall velocity. This mechanism results in a spatially inhomogeneous distribution of axions, which could lead to the formation of axion miniclusters. It has potential implications for the formation of oscillons/I-balls, axion warm dark matter, cosmic birefringence, and the production of dark photons.

Long-baseline quantum sensor network as dark matter haloscope.

Ultralight dark photons constitute a well-motivated candidate for dark matter. A coherent electromagnetic wave is expected to be induced by dark photons when coupled with Standard-Model photons through kinetic mixing mechanism, and should be spatially correlated within the de Broglie wavelength of dark photons. Here we report the first search for correlated dark-photon signals using a long-baseline network of 15 atomic magnetometers, which are situated in two separated meter-scale shield rooms with a distance of about 1700 km. Both the network's multiple sensors and the shields large size significantly enhance the expected dark-photon electromagnetic signals, and long-baseline measurements confidently reduce many local noise sources. Using this network, we constrain the kinetic mixing coefficient of dark photon dark matter over the mass range 4.1 feV-2.1 peV, which represents the most stringent constraints derived from any terrestrial experiments operating over the aforementioned mass range. Our prospect indicates that future data releases may go beyond the astrophysical constraints from the cosmic microwave background and the plasma heating.

Probing for chiral Z′ gauge boson through scattering measurement experiments

Motivated by the observation that tiny neutrino mass cannot be explained within the framework of the Standard Model, we consider extra gauge extended scenarios in which tiny neutrino masses are generated through the seesaw mechanism. These scenarios are equipped with a beyond the Standard Model neutral gauge boson called Z′ in the general U(1)X symmetry, which is a linear combination of U(1)Y and U(1)B−L. In this case, left- and right-handed fermions interact differently with the Z′. The Z′ gives rise to different processes involving neutrino-nucleon, neutrino-electron, electron-nucleus, and electron-muon scattering processes. By comparing with proton and electron beam-dump experiment data, recast data from searches for the long-lived and dark photon at , LHCb, and CMS experiments, the electron and muon g−2 data, and the data of the dilepton and dijet searches at the LEP experiment, we derive bounds on the gauge coupling and the corresponding gauge boson mass for different U(1)X charges and evaluate the prospective limits from the future beam-dump scenarios at DUNE, FASER (2), and ILC. We conclude that large parameter regions could be probed by scattering, beam-dump, and collider experiments in the future. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

Erratum: Constraints on dark photon dark matter using data from LIGO’s and Virgo’s third observing run [Phys. Rev. D 105, 063030 (2022)

Erratum: Constraints on dark photon dark matter using data from LIGO’s and Virgo’s third observing run [Phys. Rev. D 105, 063030 (2022)

Pulsar timing arrays and primordial black holes from a supercooled phase transition

An explicit realistic model featuring a supercooled phase transition, which allows us to explain the background of gravitational waves recently detected by pulsar timing arrays, is constructed. In this model the phase transition corresponds to radiative symmetry breaking (and mass generation) in a dark sector featuring a dark photon associated with the broken symmetry. The completion of the transition is ensured by a non-minimal coupling between gravity and the order parameter and fast reheating occurs thanks to a preheating phase. Finally, it is also shown that the model leads to primordial black hole production.

Iteration on the Higgs portal for vector dark matter and its effective field theory description

We reanalyze the effective field theory (EFT) approach for the scenario in which the particles that account for the dark matter (DM) in the universe are vector states that interact only through the Standard Model-like Higgs boson. These DM particles are searched for in direct and indirect detection in astrophysical experiments and in invisible Higgs decays at the LHC. The constraints obtained in these two search types are complementary and correlated. In recent years, it has been advocated that the EFT approach is problematic for small DM mass and that it does not capture all the aspects of vector DM; one should thus rather interpret the searches in ultraviolet complete theories that are more realistic. In this paper, we show that a more appropriate definition of the EFT with the introduction of an effective new physics scale parameter, can encompass such issues. We illustrate this by matching the EFT to two examples of ultraviolet completions for it: the U(1) model with a dark photon and a model that was recently adopted by the LHC experiments in which vectorlike fermions generate an effective interaction between the Higgs and the DM states at the one-loop level. Additionally, we find that the region of parameter space that is relevant for DM phenomenology is well inside the range of validity of the EFT. It thus provides a general parametrization of the effects of any ultraviolet model in the regime under exploration, making it the ideal framework for model-independent analyses of the vector DM Higgs-portal. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

Stimulated Emission of Signal Photons from Dark Matter Waves.

The manipulation of quantum states of light has resulted in significant advancements in both dark matter searches and gravitational wave detectors. Current dark matter searches operating in the microwave frequency range use nearly quantum-limited amplifiers. Future high frequency searches will use photon counting techniques to evade the standard quantum limit. We present a signal enhancement technique that utilizes a superconducting qubit to prepare a superconducting microwave cavity in a nonclassical Fock state and stimulate the emission of a photon from a dark matter wave. By initializing the cavity in an |n=4⟩ Fock state, we demonstrate a quantum enhancement technique that increases the signal photon rate and hence also the dark matter scan rate each by a factor of 2.78. Using this technique, we conduct a dark photon search in a band around 5.965GHz (24.67 μeV), where the kinetic mixing angle ε≥4.35×10^{-13} is excluded at the 90% confidence level.

Electromagnetic Signatures of Mirror Stars

Mirror stars are a generic prediction of dissipative dark matter (DM) models, including minimal atomic DM and twin baryons in the mirror twin Higgs model. Mirror stars can capture regular matter from the interstellar medium through extremely suppressed kinetic mixing interactions between the regular and the dark photon. This accumulated “nugget” will draw heat from the mirror star core and emit highly characteristic X-ray and optical signals. In this work, we devise a general parameterization of mirror star nugget properties that is independent of the unknown details of mirror star stellar physics, and use the Cloudy spectral synthesis code to obtain realistic and comprehensive predictions for the thermal emissions from optically thin mirror star nuggets. We find that mirror star nuggets populate an extremely well-defined and narrow region of the Hertzsprung–Russell diagram that only partially overlaps with the white dwarf population. Our detailed spectral predictions, which we make publicly available, allow us to demonstrate that optically thin nuggets can be clearly distinguished from white dwarf stars by their continuum spectrum shape, and from planetary nebulae and other optically thin standard sources by their highly exotic emission-line ratios. Our work will enable realistic mirror star telescope searches, which may reveal the detailed nature of DM.

Misalignment production of vector boson dark matter from axion-SU(2) inflation

We present a new mechanism to generate a coherently oscillating dark vector field from axion-SU(2) gauge field dynamics during inflation. The SU(2) gauge field acquires a nonzero background sourced by an axion during inflation, and it acquires a mass through spontaneous symmetry breaking after inflation. We find that the coherent oscillation of the dark vector field can account for dark matter in the mass range of 10-13 – 1 eV in a minimal setup. In a more involved scenario, the range can be wider down to the fuzzy dark matter region. One of the dark vector fields can be identified as the dark photon, in which case this mechanism evades the notorious constraints for isocurvature perturbation, statistical anisotropy, and the absence of ghosts that exist in the usual misalignment production scenarios. Phenomenological implications are discussed.

First Results from a Broadband Search for Dark Photon Dark Matter in the 44 to 52 μeV Range with a Coaxial Dish Antenna.

We present first results from a dark photon dark matter search in the mass range from 44 to 52 μeV (10.7-12.5GHz) using a room-temperature dish antenna setup called GigaBREAD. Dark photon dark matter converts to ordinary photons on a cylindrical metallic emission surface with area 0.5 m^{2} and is focused by a novel parabolic reflector onto a horn antenna. Signals are read out with a low-noise receiver system. A first data taking run with 24days of data does not show evidence for dark photon dark matter in this mass range, excluding dark photon photon mixing parameters χ≳10^{-12} in this range at 90% confidence level. This surpasses existing constraints by about 2 orders of magnitude and is the most stringent bound on dark photons in this range below 49 μeV.

A cosmic window on the dark axion portal

Axions and dark photons are common in many extensions of the Standard Model. The dark axion portal — an axion coupling to the dark photon and photon — can significantly modify their phenomenology. We study the cosmological constraints on the dark axion portal from Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) bounds on the energy density of dark radiation, ∆Neff. By computing the axion-photon-dark photon collision terms and solving the Boltzmann equations including their effects, we find that light axions are generally more constrained by ∆Neff than from supernova cooling or collider experiments. However, with dark photons at the MeV scale, a window of parameter space is opened up above the supernova limits and below the experimental exclusion, allowing for axion decay constants as low as fa ~ 104 GeV. This region also modifies indirectly the neutrino energy density, thus relaxing the cosmological upper bound on the sum of neutrino masses. Future CMB measurements could detect a signal or close this open window on the dark axion portal.