BBN constraints on MeV-scale dark sectors. Part I. Sterile decays

Abstract

We study constraints from Big Bang Nucleosynthesis on inert particles in a dark sector which contribute to the Hubble rate and therefore change the predictions of the primordial nuclear abundances. We pay special attention to the case of MeV-scale particles decaying into dark radiation, which are neither fully relativistic nor non-relativistic during all temperatures relevant to Big Bang Nucleosynthesis. As an application we discuss the implications of our general results for models of self-interacting dark matter with light mediators.

25 pages, 9 figures

References in corpus (10)

• Constraints on the Self-Interaction Cross-Section of Dark Matter from Numerical Simulations of the Merging Galaxy Cluster 1E 0657-5
• The non-gravitational interactions of dark matter in colliding galaxy clusters
• The Primordial Lithium Problem
• Dark Matter and Dark Radiation
• Cores in Dwarf Galaxies from Dark Matter with a Yukawa Potential
• A probable stellar solution to the cosmological lithium discrepancy
• Is dark matter with long-range interactions a solution to all small-scale problems of ΛCDM cosmology?
• BBN constraints on MeV-scale dark sectors. Part II. Electromagnetic decays
• Self-interacting inelastic dark matter: A viable solution to the small scale structure problems
• Nucleosynthesis Predictions and High-Precision Deuterium Measurements

Cited by in corpus (48)

• Dark, Cold, and Noisy: Constraining Secluded Hidden Sectors with Gravitational Waves
• DarkSUSY 6 : An Advanced Tool to Compute Dark Matter Properties Numerically
• Converting non-relativistic dark matter to radiation
• BBN constraints on MeV-scale dark sectors. Part II. Electromagnetic decays
• BBN constraints on the annihilation of MeV-scale dark matter
• Lyman-$\alpha$ constraints on freeze-in and superWIMPs
• Direct detection and complementary constraints for sub-GeV dark matter
• An Extended Analysis of Heavy Neutral Leptons during Big Bang Nucleosynthesis
• Integral X-ray constraints on sub-GeV Dark Matter
• Constraints on Primordial Black Holes From Big Bang Nucleosynthesis Revisited
• Producing a new Fermion in Coherent Elastic Neutrino-Nucleus Scattering: from Neutrino Mass to Dark Matter
• Velocity Dependence from Resonant Self-Interacting Dark Matter
• Dark decay of the neutron
• Updated BBN constraints on electromagnetic decays of MeV-scale particles
• A Thermal Neutrino Portal to Sub-MeV Dark Matter
• Reannihilation of self-interacting dark matter
• Heavy neutral leptons below the kaon mass at hodoscopic detectors
• Dark Sector Equilibration During Nucleosynthesis
• Precise dark matter relic abundance in decoupled sectors
• CosmoBit: A GAMBIT module for computing cosmological observables and likelihoods
• Minimal self-interacting dark matter models with light mediator
• Viable secret neutrino interactions with ultralight dark matter
• Constraining galactic structures of mirror dark matter
• Self-interacting dark matter with a stable vector mediator
• Scalar Dark Matter Candidates -- Revisited
• Baryogenesis from neutron-dark matter oscillations
• Neutron Decay to a Non-Abelian Dark Sector
• Astrophysical Tests of Dark Matter Self-Interactions
• Primordial Black Hole Dark Matter in the Context of Extra Dimensions
• The domain of thermal dark matter candidates
• Sterile neutrino dark matter in a U(1) extension of the standard model
• ACROPOLIS: A generiC fRamework fOr Photodisintegration Of LIght elementS
• Was Entropy Conserved between BBN and Recombination?
• Comprehensive Constraints on Dark Radiation Injection After BBN
• Freezing-in the Pure Dark Axion Portal
• Forays into the dark side of the swamp
• Strong Dark Matter Self-Interaction from a Stable Scalar Mediator
• Primordial black holes and mirror dark matter
• t-channel dark matter at the LHC -- a whitepaper
• Probing displaced (dark)photons from low reheating freeze-in at the LHC
• Primordial Black Holes Evaporating before Big Bang Nucleosynthesis
• Dark Matter as a Solution to Muonic Puzzles
• Dark Matter Is The New BBN
• No Hiding in the Dark: Cosmological Bounds on Heavy Neutral Leptons with Dark Decay Channels
• New Physics Searches at Kaon and Hyperon Factories
• Loop-Level Lepton Flavor Violation and Diphoton Signals in the Minimal Left-Right Symmetric Model
• Cosmological constraints on the decay of heavy relics into neutrinos
• Probing non-thermal light DM with structure formation and $N_{\mathrm{eff}}$