No Arabic abstract
We point out a selection rule for enhancement (suppression) of odd (even) partial waves of dark matter coannihilation or annihilation using Sommerfeld effect. Using this, the usually velocity-suppressed p-wave annihilation can dominate the annihilation signals in the present Universe. The selection mechanism is a manifestation of the exchange symmetry of identical incoming particles, and generic for multi-state DM with off-diagonal long-range interactions. As a consequence, the relic and late-time annihilation rates are parametrically different and a distinctive phenomenology, with large but strongly velocity-dependent annihilation rates, is predicted.
We calculate the one-loop corrections to TeV scale dark matter annihilation in a model where the dark matter is described by an SU(2)$_L$ triplet of Majorana fermions, such as the wino. We use this framework to determine the high and low-scale MS-bar matching coefficients at both the dark matter and weak boson mass scales at one loop. Part of this calculation has previously been performed in the literature numerically; we find our analytic result differs from the earlier work and discuss potential origins of this disagreement. Our result is used to extend the dark matter annihilation rate to NLL (NLL+O($alpha_2$) corrections) which enables a precise determination of indirect detection signatures in present and upcoming experiments.
We incorporate Milky Way dark matter halo profile uncertainties, as well as an accounting of diffuse gamma-ray emission uncertainties in dark matter annihilation models for the Galactic Center Extended gamma-ray excess (GCE) detected by the Fermi Gamma Ray Space Telescope. The range of particle annihilation rate and masses expand when including these unknowns. However, two of the most precise empirical determinations of the Milky Way halos local density and density profile leave the signal region to be in considerable tension with dark matter annihilation searches from combined dwarf galaxy analyses for single-channel dark matter annihilation models. The GCE and dwarf tension can be alleviated if: one, the halo is very highly concentrated or strongly contracted; two, the dark matter annihilation signal differentiates between dwarfs and the GC; or, three, local stellar density measures are found to be significantly lower, like that from recent stellar counts, increasing the local dark matter density.
Traditional computations of the dark matter (DM) relic abundance, for models where attractive self-interactions are mediated by light force-carriers and bound states exist, rely on the solution of a coupled system of classical on-shell Boltzmann equations. This idealized description misses important thermal effects caused by the tight coupling among force-carriers and other charged relativistic species. We develop for the first time a comprehensive ab-initio derivation for the description of DM long-range interactions in the presence of a hot and dense plasma background directly from non-equilibrium quantum field theory. Most importantly, the scattering and bound states get strongly mixed in the thermal plasma environment, representing a characteristic difference from a pure vacuum theory computation. The main result of this work is a novel differential equation for the DM number density, written down in a form which is manifestly independent under the choice of what one would interpret as a bound or a scattering state at finite temperature. The collision term, unifying the description of annihilation and bound state decay, turns out to have in general a non-quadratic dependence on the DM number density. This generalizes the form of the conventional Lee-Weinberg equation which is typically adopted to describe the freeze-out process. We prove that our general number density equation is consistent with previous literature results under certain limits.
If dark matter (DM) annihilation accounts for the tantalizing excess of cosmic ray electron/positrons, as reported by the PAMELA, ATIC, HESS and FERMI observatories, then the implied annihilation cross section must be relatively large. This results, in the context of standard cosmological models, in very small relic DM abundances that are incompatible with astrophysical observations. We explore possible resolutions to this apparent conflict in terms of non-standard cosmological scenarios; plausibly allowing for large cross sections, while maintaining relic abundances in accord with current observations.
The majority of the matter in the universe is still unidentified and under investigation by both direct and indirect means. Many experiments searching for the recoil of dark-matter particles off target nuclei in underground laboratories have established increasingly strong constraints on the mass and scattering cross sections of weakly interacting particles, and some have even seen hints at a possible signal. Other experiments search for a possible mixing of photons with light scalar or pseudo-scalar particles that could also constitute dark matter. Furthermore, annihilation or decay of dark matter can contribute to charged cosmic rays, photons at all energies, and neutrinos. Many existing and future ground-based and satellite experiments are sensitive to such signals. Finally, data from the Large Hadron Collider at CERN are scrutinized for missing energy as a signature of new weakly interacting particles that may be related to dark matter. In this review article we summarize the status of the field with an emphasis on the complementarity between direct detection in dedicated laboratory experiments, indirect detection in the cosmic radiation, and searches at particle accelerators.