Dark Matter Coannihilation with a Lighter Species

2017/04/26 by Asher Berlin
Physics and Astronomy · #Annihilation #Astrophysics #Cosmology #Cosmology and Gravitation Theories #Dark Matter and Cosmic Phenomena #Dark energy #Dark matter #Hot dark matter #Light dark matter #Mixed dark matter #Nuclear physics #Particle physics #Particle physics theoretical and experimental studies #Phenomenology (philosophy) #Philosophy #Physics #Scalar field dark matter #Warm dark matter #Weakly interacting massive particles #astro-ph.CO #hep-ph

paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physrevlett.119.121801

published as Phys. Rev. Lett. 119, 121801 (2017) · 5 pages, 2 figures

arxiv created 2017/04/26 · openalex publication_date 2017/09/19 · arxiv updated 2017/09/27 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05

Abstract

We propose a new thermal freeze-out mechanism for ultraheavy dark matter. Dark matter coannihilates with a lighter unstable species that is nearby in mass, leading to an annihilation rate that is exponentially enhanced relative to standard weakly interactive massive particles. This scenario destabilizes any potential dark matter candidate. In order to remain consistent with astrophysical observations, our proposal necessitates very long-lived states, motivating striking phenomenology associated with the late decays of ultraheavy dark matter, potentially as massive as the scale of grand unified theories, M_GUT∼10¹⁶ GeV.

Citations

• Neutralino relic density including coannihilations
• Updated fit to three neutrino mixing: status of leptonic CP violation
• Neutrino masses in SU(2) ⊗ U(1) theories
• Results from a Search for Dark Matter in the Complete LUX Exposure
• Light dark matter through assisted annihilation