Related papers: Dark-matter spontaneous freeze out
We present a novel mechanism for thermal dark matter production, characterized by a "bounce": the dark matter equilibrium distribution transitions from the canonical exponentially falling abundance to an exponentially rising one, resulting…
Light dark-matter ($M\leq20$ MeV) particles freeze out after neutrino decoupling. If the dark-matter particle couples to a neutrino or an electromagnetic plasma, the late time entropy production from dark-matter annihilation can change the…
Using the upper bound on the inelastic reaction cross-section implied by S-matrix unitarity, we derive the thermally averaged maximum dark matter (DM) annihilation rate for general $k \rightarrow 2$ number-changing reactions, with $k \geq…
We estimate dark matter density for the Universe with a reheating temperature smaller than the mass of dark matter, assuming dark matter to be a weakly interacting massive particle. During the reheating process, an inflaton decays and…
It is conjectured that dark matter (DM) was produced before inflation from neutral particles present after the Big Bang and survived inflation due to a specific coupling with gravitation, while the charged particles existing after the Big…
The relic abundance of thermal dark matter particles is generally assumed to be inversely proportional to their annihilation rate, which is therefore constrained by the present matter density, <sigma v> ~ 10^{-26} Omega_{dm}^{-1} cm^3…
The capture of dark matter, and its subsequent annihilation, can heat old, isolated neutron stars. In order for kinetic heating to be achieved, the captured dark matter must undergo sufficient scattering to deposit its kinetic energy in the…
If, during the early Universe epoch, the dark matter particle thermalizes in a hidden sector which does not thermalize with the Standard Model thermal bath, its relativistic thermal decoupling can easily lead to the observed relic density,…
Thermal freeze-out or freeze-in during a period of early matter domination can give rise to the correct dark matter abundance for $\langle \sigma_{\rm ann} v \rangle_{\rm f} < 3 \times 10^{-26}$ cm$^3$ s$^{-1}$. In the standard scenario, a…
A strongly self-interacting component of asymmetric dark matter can collapse and form compact objects, provided there is an efficient mechanism of energy evacuation. If the dark matter quantum number is not completely conserved but it is…
We explore dark matter genesis beyond the WIMP paradigm, focusing on the mechanism of conversion-driven freeze-out. This mechanism enables the thermalization of dark matter despite its very weak couplings. While the scenario evades…
In the Dynamical Dark Matter (DDM) framework, the dark sector comprises a large number of constituent dark particles whose individual masses, lifetimes, and cosmological abundances obey specific scaling relations with respect to each other.…
A thermally decoupled hidden sector of particles, with a mass gap, generically enters a phase of cannibalism in the early Universe. The Standard Model sector becomes exponentially colder than the hidden sector. We propose the Cannibal Dark…
A phenomenological model of dark energy that tracks the baryonic and cold dark matter at early times but resembles a cosmological constant at late times is explored. In the transition between these two regimes, the dark energy density drops…
Both scalar and vector dark matter can be produced during a cosmological first order phase transition if the dark matter is coupled to the field undergoing the transition. Both kinds of particle are also produced by the plasma through the…
At the tail of its velocity distribution, cold dark matter (DM) can annihilate at finite temperature to states heavier than itself. We explore the possibility that DM freezeout is dictated by these "forbidden annihilations" at the…
We introduce a novel mechanism where processes that preserve the number density of the dark sector set the relic density of a thermal particulate dark matter. In a relatively degenerate multipartite dark sector if there is a considerable…
If dark matter is composed of new particles, these may become captured after scattering with nuclei in the Sun, thermalise through additional scattering, and finally annihilate into neutrinos that can be detected on Earth. If dark matter…
We propose an alternate, calculable mechanism of dark matter genesis, "thermal freeze-in," involving a Feebly Interacting Massive Particle (FIMP) interacting so feebly with the thermal bath that it never attains thermal equilibrium. As with…
This work presents an asymmetric dark matter model with relic density determined by the freeze-out of asymmetric semi-annihilations into long-lived particles slowly decaying into the Standard Model states. We carefully consider the $CPT$…