Related papers: Sub-MeV Dark Sink Dark Matter
We describe a simple dark sector structure which, if present, has implications for the direct detection of dark matter (DM): the Dark Sink. A Dark Sink transports energy density from the DM into light dark-sector states that do not…
Thermal relics lighter than an MeV contribute to the energy density of the universe at the time of nucleosynthesis and recombination. Constraints on extra radiation degrees of freedom typically exclude even the simplest of such dark…
We consider a class of models in which thermal dark matter is lighter than an MeV. If dark matter thermalizes with the Standard Model below the temperature of neutrino-photon decoupling, equilibration and freeze-out cools and heats the…
In this letter, we consider a class of scenarios in which the dark matter is part of a heavy hidden sector that is thermally decoupled from the Standard Model in the early universe. The dark matter freezes-out by annihilating to a lighter,…
We demonstrate that current and planned underground neutrino experiments could offer a powerful probe of few-MeV dark matter when combined with a nearby high-intensity low-to-medium energy electron accelerator. This experimental setup, an…
In the past few years, many mesoscale systems have been proposed as possible detectors of sub-GeV dark matter particles. In this work, we point out the feasibility of probing dark matter-nucleon scattering cross section using…
If dark matter (DM) particles are lighter than a few MeV/$c^2$ and can scatter off electrons, their interaction within the solar interior results in a considerable hardening of the spectrum of galactic dark matter received on Earth. For a…
Light dark matter is a compelling experimental target in light of stringent constraints on heavier WIMPs. However, for a sub-MeV WIMP, the universe is sufficiently well understood at temperatures below 10 MeV that there is no room for it to…
Dark matter (DM) could couple to particles in the Standard Model (SM) through a light vector mediator. In the limit of small coupling, this portal could be responsible for producing the observed DM abundance through a mechanism known as…
Current dark matter direct detection experiments have low sensitivity to sub-GeV dark matter. In this work, we demonstrate that rare $B$ and $K$ meson decays with missing energy in the final state can serve as efficient probes in this mass…
We study the direct detection prospects for a representative set of simplified models of sub-GeV dark matter (DM), accounting for existing terrestrial, astrophysical and cosmological constraints. We focus on dark matter lighter than an MeV,…
It is possible that the strongest interactions between dark matter and the Standard Model occur via the neutrino sector. Unlike gamma rays and charged particles, neutrinos provide a unique avenue to probe for astrophysical sources of dark…
We propose a new strategy to directly detect light particle dark matter that has long-ranged interactions with ordinary matter. The approach involves distorting the local flow of dark matter with time-varying fields and measuring these…
Within the framework of the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (MSSM), we explore a decoupling of the parameters into separate sectors that determine consistency with collider data, the abundance of dark matter, and potential signatures…
Semiconductors are by now well-established targets for direct detection of MeV to GeV dark matter via scattering off electrons. We show that semiconductor targets can also detect significantly lighter dark matter via an absorption process.…
It has previously been proposed that annihilating dark matter particles with MeV-scale masses could be responsible for the flux of 511 keV photons observed from the region of the Galactic Bulge. The conventional wisdom, however, is that it…
Dark matter (DM) could be a relic of freeze-in through a light mediator, where the DM is produced by extremely feeble, IR-dominated processes in the thermal Standard Model plasma. In the simplest viable models with the DM mass below the MeV…
We calculate the scattering rate of sub-GeV dark matter in solid-state targets for spin-dependent dark matter -- nucleon interactions. For dark matter particles with mass below 100 MeV, the scattering occurs predominantly through incoherent…
The non-detection of dark matter may be attributed to the dark matter residing in a darker hidden sector. We explore the possibility that a hidden sector produced through the freeze-in mechanism, can further generate an even more hidden…
In this work, we present UV completions of the recently proposed number-changing Co-SIMP freeze-out mechanism. In contrast to the standard cannibalistic-type dark matter picture that occurs entirely in the dark sector, the $3\to 2$ process…