Reannihilation of self-interacting dark matter

Abstract

We explore the phenomenology of having a second epoch of dark matter annihilation into dark radiation long after the standard thermal freeze-out. Such a hidden reannihilation process could affect visible sectors only gravitationally. As a concrete realization we consider self-interacting dark matter (SIDM) with a light force mediator coupled to dark radiation. We demonstrate how resonantly Sommerfeld enhanced cross sections emerge to induce the reannihilation epoch. The effect is a temporally local modification of the Hubble expansion rate and we show that the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) measurements -- as well as other observations -- have a high sensitivity to observe this phenomenon. Special attention is given to the model region where late kinetic decoupling and strong self-interactions can alleviate several small-scale problems in the cold dark matter paradigm at the same time. Interestingly, we find that reannihilation might here also simultaneously lower the tension between CMB and low-redshift astronomical observations of $H_0$ and ${\sigma }_8$. Moreover, we identify reannihilation as a clear signature to discriminate between the phenomenologically otherwise almost identical vector and scalar mediator realizations of SIDM.

Version submitted to journal. Extended with improved estimates and updated plots. 25 pages, 9 figures and 2 tables

References in corpus (19)

• Too big to fail? The puzzling darkness of massive Milky Way subhaloes
• Baryon Acoustic Oscillations in the Lyα forest of BOSS DR11 quasars
• Constraints on the Self-Interaction Cross-Section of Dark Matter from Numerical Simulations of the Merging Galaxy Cluster 1E 0657-5
• Non-perturbative Effect on Thermal Relic Abundance of Dark Matter
• Is dark matter with long-range interactions a solution to all small-scale problems of ΛCDM cosmology?
• Resonant Dark Forces and Small Scale Structure
• Tension between the power spectrum of density perturbations measured on large and small scales
• BBN And The CMB Constrain Neutrino Coupled Light WIMPs
• Using the Milky Way satellites to study interactions between cold dark matter and radiation
• Cosmological bounds on dark matter-neutrino interactions
• Dark-matter bound states from Feynman diagrams
• The diverse density profiles of galaxy clusters with self-interacting dark matter plus baryons
• NIHAO XIV: Reproducing the observed diversity of dwarf galaxy rotation curve shapes in LCDM
• Dark matter-radiation interactions: the impact on dark matter haloes
• BBN constraints on MeV-scale dark sectors. Part I. Sterile decays
• ETHOS -- an effective theory of structure formation: predictions for the high-redshift Universe -- abundance of galaxies and reionization
• Using CMB spectral distortions to distinguish between dark matter solutions to the small-scale crisis
• Linear scale bounds on dark matter--dark radiation interactions and connection with the small scale crisis of cold dark matter
• Probing Velocity Dependent Self-Interacting Dark Matter with Neutrino Telescopes

Cited by in corpus (38)

• In the Realm of the Hubble tension $-$ a Review of Solutions
• Cosmology Intertwined II: The Hubble Constant Tension
• New physics in light of the $H_0$ tension: an alternative view
• Seven hints that early-time new physics alone is not sufficient to solve the Hubble tension
• The BAO+BBN take on the Hubble tension
• DarkSUSY 6 : An Advanced Tool to Compute Dark Matter Properties Numerically
• Tensions in the dark: shedding light on Dark Matter-Dark Energy interactions
• Converting non-relativistic dark matter to radiation
• BBN constraints on MeV-scale dark sectors. Part II. Electromagnetic decays
• Late-transition vs smooth $H(z)$ deformation models for the resolution of the Hubble crisis
• Homeopathic Dark Matter, or how diluted heavy substances produce high energy cosmic rays
• Velocity Dependence from Resonant Self-Interacting Dark Matter
• Asymmetric dark matter: residual annihilations and self-interactions
• Generalized Emergent Dark Energy Model and the Hubble Constant Tension
• DRAKE: Dark matter Relic Abundance beyond Kinetic Equilibrium
• Self-interacting dark matter from late decays and the $H_0$ tension
• Dark Matter Sommerfeld-enhanced annihilation and Bound-state decay at finite temperature
• Cosmology Intertwined: A Review of the Particle Physics, Astrophysics, and Cosmology Associated with the Cosmological Tensions and Anomalies
• Dark Matter bound-state formation at higher order: a non-equilibrium quantum field theory approach
• Production of dark-matter bound states in the early universe by three-body recombination
• Maximally self-interacting dark matter: models and predictions
• Self-interacting dark matter with a stable vector mediator
• On dark matter - dark radiation interaction and cosmic reionization
• Alleviating $H_0$ Tension with New Gravitational Scalar Tensor Theories
• Dark Matter Bound State Formation in Fermionic $Z_2$ DM model with Light Dark Photon and Dark Higgs Boson
• Alleviating $H_0$ tension in Horndeski gravity
• Dark matter bound state formation via emission of a charged scalar
• Astrophysical Tests of Dark Matter Self-Interactions
• Alleviating $H_0$ tension in scalar-tensor and bi-scalar-tensor theories
• Axion Dark Radiation: Hubble Tension and Hyper-kamiokande Neutrino Experiment
• Bound states of WIMP dark matter in Higgs-portal models. Part I. Cross-sections and transition rates
• Mergers of primordial black holes in extreme clusters and the $H_0$ tension
• Addressing the Hubble tension in Yukawa cosmology?
• Visualizing Invisible Dark Matter Annihilation with the CMB and Matter Power Spectrum
• Kinetic recoupling of dark matter
• On the Stability of Fermionic Non-Isothermal Dark Matter Halos
• Dark Matter Relic Density Revisited: The Case For Early Kinetic Decoupling
• A study of potential non-relativistic QED pairs in the Keldysh-Schwinger formalism