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Author McDermott, S.D.; Witte, S.J.
Title Cosmological evolution of light dark photon dark matter Type Journal Article
Year 2020 Publication Physical Review D Abbreviated Journal Phys. Rev. D
Volume 101 Issue 6 Pages 063030 - 14pp
Keywords
Abstract Light dark photons are subject to various plasma effects, such as Debye screening and resonant oscillations, which can lead to a more complex cosmological evolution than is experienced by conventional cold dark matter candidates. Maintaining a consistent history of dark photon dark matter requires ensuring that the superthennal abundance present in the early Universe (i) does not deviate significantly after the formation of the cosmic microwave background (CMB), and (ii) does not excessively leak into the Standard Model plasma after big band nucleosynthesis (BBN). We point out that the role of nonresonant absorption, which has previously been neglected in cosmological studies of this dark matter candidate, produces strong constraints on dark photon dark matter with mass as low as 10(-22) eV. Furthermore, we show that resonant conversion of dark photons after recombination can produce excessive heating of the intergalactic medium (IGM) which is capable of prematurely reionizing hydrogen and helium, leaving a distinct imprint on both the Ly-a forest and the integrated optical depth of the CMB. Our constraints surpass existing cosmological bounds by more than 5 orders of magnitude across a wide range of dark photon masses.
Address [McDermott, Samuel D.] Fermilab Natl Accelerator Lab, Theoret Astrophys Grp, POB 500, Batavia, IL 60510 USA
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher (up) Amer Physical Soc Place of Publication Editor
Language English Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 2470-0010 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes WOS:000522168800002 Approved no
Is ISI yes International Collaboration yes
Call Number IFIC @ pastor @ Serial 4346
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Author Blas, D.; Witte, S.J.
Title Imprints of axion superradiance in the CMB Type Journal Article
Year 2020 Publication Physical Review D Abbreviated Journal Phys. Rev. D
Volume 102 Issue 10 Pages 103018 - 10pp
Keywords
Abstract Light axions (m(a) less than or similar to 10(-10) eV) can form dense clouds around rapidly rotating astrophysical black holes via a mechanism known as rotational superradiance. The coupling between axions and photons induces a parametric resonance, arising from the stimulated decay of the axion cloud, which can rapidly convert regions of large axion number densities into an enormous flux of low-energy photons. In this work we consider the phenomenological implications of a superradiant axion cloud undergoing resonant decay. We show that the low-energy photons produced from such events will be absorbed over cosmologically short distances, potentially inducing massive shockwaves that heat and ionize the intergalactic medium over Mpc scales. These shockwaves may leave observable imprints in the form of anisotropic spectral distortions or inhomogeneous features in the optical depth.
Address [Blas, Diego] Kings Coll London, Dept Phys, Theoret Particle Phys & Cosmol Grp, London WC2R 2LS, England, Email: diego.blas@kcl.ac.uk;
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher (up) Amer Physical Soc Place of Publication Editor
Language English Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 2470-0010 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes WOS:000589606900004 Approved no
Is ISI yes International Collaboration yes
Call Number IFIC @ pastor @ Serial 4609
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Author Blas, D.; Witte, S.J.
Title Quenching mechanisms of photon superradiance Type Journal Article
Year 2020 Publication Physical Review D Abbreviated Journal Phys. Rev. D
Volume 102 Issue 12 Pages 123018 - 10pp
Keywords
Abstract Rapidly rotating black holes are known to develop instabilities in the presence of a sufficiently light boson, a process which becomes efficient when the boson's Compton wavelength is roughly the size of the black hole. This phenomenon known as black hole superradiance generates an exponentially growing boson cloud at the expense of the rotational energy of the black hole. For astrophysical black holes with M similar to O(10)M-circle dot, the superradiant condition is achieved for bosons with m(b) similar to O(10(-11))eV; intriguingly, photons traversing the intergalactic medium acquire an effective mass (due to their interactions with the ambient plasma) which naturally resides in this range. The implications of photon superradiance, i.e., the evolution of the superradiant photon cloud and ambient plasma in the presence of scattering and particle production processes, have yet to be thoroughly investigated. Here, we enumerate and discuss a number of different processes capable of quenching the growth of the photon cloud, including particle interactions with the ambient electrons and backreactions on the effective mass (arising e.g., from thermal effects, pair production, ionization of the local background, and modifications to the dispersion relation from strong electric fields). This work naturally serves as a guide in understanding how interactions may allow light exotic bosons to evade superradiant constraints.
Address [Blas, Diego] Kings Coll London, Dept Phys, Theoret Particle Phys & Cosmol Grp, London WC2R 2LS, England, Email: diego.blas@kcl.ac.uk;
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher (up) Amer Physical Soc Place of Publication Editor
Language English Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 2470-0010 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes WOS:000599093100002 Approved no
Is ISI yes International Collaboration yes
Call Number IFIC @ pastor @ Serial 4666
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Author Utrilla Gines, E.; Mena, O.; Witte, S.J.
Title Revisiting constraints on WIMPs around primordial black holes Type Journal Article
Year 2022 Publication Physical Review D Abbreviated Journal Phys. Rev. D
Volume 106 Issue 6 Pages 063538 - 14pp
Keywords
Abstract While primordial black holes (PBHs) with masses MPBH greater than or similar to 10-11 Mo cannot comprise the entirety of dark matter, the existence of even a small population of these objects can have profound astrophysical consequences. A subdominant population of PBHs will efficiently accrete dark matter particles before matter-radiation equality, giving rise to high-density dark matter spikes. We consider here the scenario in which dark matter is comprised primarily of weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs) with a small subdominant contribution coming from PBHs, and revisit the constraints on the annihilation of WIMPs in these spikes using observations of the isotropic gamma-ray background (IGRB) and the cosmic microwave background (CMB), for a range of WIMP masses, annihilation channels, cross sections, and PBH mass functions. We find that the constraints derived using the IGRB have been significantly overestimated (in some cases by many orders of magnitude), and that limits obtained using observations of the CMB are typically stronger than, or comparable to, those coming from the IGRB. Importantly, we show that similar to OoMo thorn PBHs can still contribute significantly to the dark matter density for sufficiently low WIMP masses and p-wave annihilation cross sections.
Address [Utrilla Gines, Estanis; Mena, Olga] Univ Valencia, CSIC, Inst Fis Corpuscular IFIC, Parc Cient UV,C Catedrat Jose Beltran 2, E-46980 Paterna, Spain
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher (up) Amer Physical Soc Place of Publication Editor
Language English Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 2470-0010 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes WOS:000866519600007 Approved no
Is ISI yes International Collaboration yes
Call Number IFIC @ pastor @ Serial 5390
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Author Escudero, M.; Hooper, D.; Witte, S.J.
Title Updated collider and direct detection constraints on Dark Matter models for the Galactic Center gamma-ray excess Type Journal Article
Year 2017 Publication Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics Abbreviated Journal J. Cosmol. Astropart. Phys.
Volume 02 Issue 2 Pages 038 - 21pp
Keywords dark matter experiments; dark matter theory
Abstract Utilizing an exhaustive set of simplified models, we revisit dark matter scenarios potentially capable of generating the observed Galactic Center gamma-ray excess, updating constraints from the LUX and PandaX- II experiments, as well as from the LHC and other colliders. We identify a variety of pseudoscalar mediated models that remain consistent with all constraints. In contrast, dark matter candidates which annihilate through a spin-1 mediator are ruled out by direct detection constraints unless the mass of the mediator is near an annihilation resonance, or the mediator has a purely vector coupling to the dark matter and a purely axial coupling to Standard Model fermions. All scenarios in which the dark matter annihilates throught-channel processes are now ruled out by a combination of the constraints from LUX/ PandaX-II and the LHC.
Address [Escudero, Miguel] Univ Valencia, CSIC, Inst Fis Corpuscular IFIC, Apartado Correos 22085, E-46071 Valencia, Spain, Email: miguel.escudero@ific.uv.es;
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher (up) Iop Publishing Ltd Place of Publication Editor
Language English Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 1475-7516 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes WOS:000399455000038 Approved no
Is ISI yes International Collaboration yes
Call Number IFIC @ pastor @ Serial 3079
Permanent link to this record