Semi-annihilation of dark matter
We show that the thermal relic abundance of dark matter can be affected by a new type of reaction: semi-annihilation. Semi-annihilation takes the schematic form ..., where psi i are stable dark matter particles and phi is an unstable state. Such reactions are generically present when dark matter is...
| Main Authors: | , |
|---|---|
| Other Authors: | |
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | en_US |
| Published: |
Springer, for SISSA
2011
|
| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/64651 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2406-8160 |
| _version_ | 1826217945965002752 |
|---|---|
| author | D'Eramo, Francesco Thaler, Jesse |
| author2 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Center for Theoretical Physics |
| author_facet | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Center for Theoretical Physics D'Eramo, Francesco Thaler, Jesse |
| author_sort | D'Eramo, Francesco |
| collection | MIT |
| description | We show that the thermal relic abundance of dark matter can be affected by a new type of reaction: semi-annihilation. Semi-annihilation takes the schematic form ..., where psi i are stable dark matter particles and phi is an unstable state. Such reactions are generically present when dark matter is composed of more than one species with “flavor” and/or “baryon” symmetries. We give a complete set of coupled Boltzmann equations in the presence of semi-annihilations, and study two toy models featuring this process. Semi-annihilation leads to non-trivial dark matter dynamics in the early universe, often dominating over ordinary annihilation in determining the relic abundance. This process also has important implications for indirect detection experiments, by enriching the final state spectrum from dark matter (semi-)annihilation in the Milky Way. |
| first_indexed | 2024-09-23T17:11:15Z |
| format | Article |
| id | mit-1721.1/64651 |
| institution | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| language | en_US |
| last_indexed | 2024-09-23T17:11:15Z |
| publishDate | 2011 |
| publisher | Springer, for SISSA |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | mit-1721.1/646512022-09-30T00:17:55Z Semi-annihilation of dark matter D'Eramo, Francesco Thaler, Jesse Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Center for Theoretical Physics Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Physics Thaler, Jesse Thaler, Jesse D'Eramo, Francesco We show that the thermal relic abundance of dark matter can be affected by a new type of reaction: semi-annihilation. Semi-annihilation takes the schematic form ..., where psi i are stable dark matter particles and phi is an unstable state. Such reactions are generically present when dark matter is composed of more than one species with “flavor” and/or “baryon” symmetries. We give a complete set of coupled Boltzmann equations in the presence of semi-annihilations, and study two toy models featuring this process. Semi-annihilation leads to non-trivial dark matter dynamics in the early universe, often dominating over ordinary annihilation in determining the relic abundance. This process also has important implications for indirect detection experiments, by enriching the final state spectrum from dark matter (semi-)annihilation in the Milky Way. 2011-06-22T17:04:55Z 2011-06-22T17:04:55Z 2010-06 2010-04 Article http://purl.org/eprint/type/JournalArticle 1029-8479 MIT-CTP 4136 http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/64651 D’Eramo, Francesco, and Jesse Thaler. “Semi-annihilation of Dark Matter.” Journal of High Energy Physics 2010.6 (2010) : 1-34-34. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2406-8160 en_US http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/jhep06(2010)109 Journal of High Energy Physics Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/ application/pdf Springer, for SISSA Prof. Thaler via Mat Willmott |
| spellingShingle | D'Eramo, Francesco Thaler, Jesse Semi-annihilation of dark matter |
| title | Semi-annihilation of dark matter |
| title_full | Semi-annihilation of dark matter |
| title_fullStr | Semi-annihilation of dark matter |
| title_full_unstemmed | Semi-annihilation of dark matter |
| title_short | Semi-annihilation of dark matter |
| title_sort | semi annihilation of dark matter |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/64651 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2406-8160 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT deramofrancesco semiannihilationofdarkmatter AT thalerjesse semiannihilationofdarkmatter |