No Arabic abstract
A bevy of light dark matter direct detection experiments have been proposed, targeting spin-independent dark matter scattering. In order to be exhaustive, non-standard signatures that have been investigated in the WIMP window including spin-dependent dark matter scattering also need to be looked into in the light dark matter parameter space. In this work, we promote this endeavor by deriving indirect limits on sub-GeV spin-dependent dark matter through terrestrial and astrophysical limits on the forces that mediate this scattering.
We analyze the Sun as a source for the indirect detection of dark matter through a search for gamma rays from the solar disk. Capture of dark matter by elastic interactions with the solar nuclei followed by annihilation to long-lived mediators can produce a detectable gamma-ray flux. We search three years of data from the High Altitude Water Cherenkov Observatory and find no statistically significant detection of TeV gamma-ray emission from the Sun. Using this, we constrain the spin-dependent elastic scattering cross section of dark matter with protons for dark matter masses above 1 TeV, assuming an unstable mediator with a favorable lifetime. The results complement constraints obtained from Fermi-LAT observations of the Sun and together cover WIMP masses between 4 GeV and $10^6$ GeV. The cross section constraints for mediator decays to gamma rays can be as strong as $sim10^{-45}$ cm$^{-2}$, which is more than four orders of magnitude stronger than current direct-detection experiments for 1 TeV dark matter mass. The cross-section constraints at higher masses are even better, nearly 7 orders of magnitude better than the current direct-detection constraints for 100 TeV dark matter mass. This demonstration of sensitivity encourages detailed development of theoretical models in light of these powerful new constraints.
We consider the indirect detection of dark matter that is captured in the Sun and subsequently annihilates to long lived dark mediators. If these mediators escape the Sun before decaying, they can produce striking gamma ray signals, either via the decay of the mediators directly to photons, or via bremsstrahlung and hadronization of the mediator decay products. Using recent measurements from the HAWC Observatory, we determine model-independent limits on heavy dark matter that are orders of magnitude more powerful than direct detection experiments, for both spin-dependent and spin-independent scattering. We also consider a well-motivated model in which fermionic dark matter annihilates to dark photons. For such a realistic scenario, the strength of the solar gamma ray constraints are reduced, compared to the idealistic case, due to the fact that the dark matter capture cross section and mediator lifetime are related. Nonetheless, solar gamma ray constraints enable us to exclude a previously unconstrained region of dark photon parameter space.
We discuss the possibility of producing a light dark photon dark matter through a coupling between the dark photon field and the inflaton. The dark photon with a large wavelength is efficiently produced due to the inflaton motion during inflation and becomes non-relativistic before the time of matter-radiation equality. We compute the amount of production analytically. The correct relic abundance is realized with a dark photon mass extending down to $10^{-21} , rm eV$.
We present updated constraints on dark matter models with momentum-dependent or velocity-dependent interactions with nuclei, based on direct detection and solar physics. We improve our previous treatment of energy transport in the solar interior by dark matter scattering, leading to significant changes in fits to many observables. Based on solar physics alone, DM with a spin-independent $q^{4}$ coupling provides the best fit to data, and a statistically satisfactory solution to the solar abundance problem. Once direct detection limits are accounted for however, the best solution is spin-dependent $v^2$ scattering with a reference cross-section of 10$^{-35}$ cm$^2$ (at a reference velocity of $v_0=220$ km s$^{-1}$), and a dark matter mass of about 5 GeV.
New and complimentary constraints are placed on the spin-independent interactions of dark matter with baryonic matter. Similar to the Earth and other planets, the Moon does not have any major internal heat source. We derive constraints by comparing the rate of energy deposit by dark matter annihilations in the Moon to 12 mW/m$^2$ as measured by the Apollo mission. For light dark matter of mass $mathcal{O}(10)$ GeV, we also examine the possibility of dark matter annihilations in the Moon limb. In this case, we place constraints by comparing the photon flux from such annihilations to that of the Fermi-LAT measurement of $10^{-4}$ MeV/cm$^2$s. This analysis excludes spin independent cross section $gtrsim 10^{-37}$ $rm{cm}^2$ for dark matter mass between 30 and 50 GeV.