No Arabic abstract
Recently, the XENON1T experiment has observed an excess in the electronic recoil data in the recoil energy range of $1$-$7$ keV. One of the most favored new physics interpretations is electron scattering with a boosted particle with a velocity of $sim 0.1$ and a mass of $gtrsim 0.1,mathrm{MeV}$. If such a particle has a strong interaction with electrons, it may affect the standard scenario of cosmology or be observed at low-threshold direct detection experiments. We study various constraints, mainly focusing on those from the big-bang nucleosynthesis, supernova cooling, and direct detection experiments. We discuss the implication of these constraints on electron-scattering interpretation of the XENON1T excess.
We show that the electron recoil excess around 2 keV claimed by the Xenon collaboration can be fitted by DM or DM-like particles having a fast component with velocity of order $sim 0.1$. Those particles cannot be part of the cold DM halo of our Galaxy, so we speculate about their possible nature and origin, such as fast moving DM sub-haloes, semi-annihilations of DM and relativistic axions produced by a nearby axion star. Feasible new physics scenarios must accommodate exotic DM dynamics and unusual DM properties.
We show that electron recoils induced by non-relativistic Dark Matter interactions can fit well the recently reported Xenon1T excess, if they are mediated by a light pseudo-scalar in the MeV range. This is due to the favorable momentum-dependence of the resulting scattering rate, which partially compensates the unfavorable kinematics that tends to strongly suppress keV electron recoils. We study the phenomenology of the mediator and identify the allowed parameter space of the Xenon1T excess which is compatible with all experimental limits. We also find that the anomalous magnetic moments $(g-2)_{mu,e}$ of muons and electrons can be simultaneously explained in this scenario, at the prize of a fine-tuning in the couplings of the order of a few percent.
We propose boosted dark matter (BDM) as a possible explanation for the excess of keV electron recoil events observed by XENON1T. BDM particles have velocities much larger than those typical of virialized dark matter, and, as such, BDM-electron scattering can naturally produce keV electron recoils. We show that the required BDM-electron scattering cross sections can be easily realized in a simple model with a heavy vector mediator. Though these cross sections are too large for BDM to escape from the Sun, the BDM flux can originate from the Galactic Center or from halo dark matter annihilations. Furthermore, a daily modulation of the BDM signal will be present, which could not only be used to differentiate it from various backgrounds, but would also provide important directional information for the BDM flux.
Recently, the XENON1T collaboration reported an excess in the electron recoil energy spectrum. One of the simplest new physics interpretation is a new neutrino-electron interaction mediated by a light vector particle. However, for the parameter region favored by this excess, the constraints from the stellar cooling are severe. Still, there are astrophysical uncertainties on those constraints. In this paper, we discuss the constraint on the light mediator from the effective number of neutrino Neff in the CMB era, which provides an independent constraint. We show that Neff is significantly enhanced and exceeds the current constraint in the parameter region favored for the XENON1T excess. As a result, the interpretation by a light mediator heavier than about 1 eV is excluded by the Neff constraint.
Very recently, the Xenon1T collaboration has reported an intriguing electron recoil excess, which may imply for light dark matter. In order to interpret this anomaly, we propose the atmospheric dark matter (ADM) from the inelastic collision of cosmic rays (CRs) with the atmosphere. Due to the boost effect of high energy CRs, we show that the light ADM can be fast-moving and successfully fit the observed electron recoil spectrum through the ADM-electron scattering process. Meanwhile, our ADM predicts the scattering cross section $sigma_e sim {cal O}(10^{-38}- 10^{-39}$) cm$^{2}$, and thus can evade other direct detection constraints. The search for light meson rare decays, such as $eta to pi + slashed E_T$, would provide a complementary probe of our ADM in the future.