Refined Bounds on MeV-scale Thermal Dark Sectors from BBN and the CMB

Abstract

New light states thermally coupled to the Standard Model plasma alter the expansion history of the Universe and impact the synthesis of the primordial light elements. In this work, we carry out an exhaustive and precise analysis of the implications of MeV-scale BSM particles in Big Bang Nucleosynthesis (BBN) and for Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) observations. We find that, BBN observations set a lower bound on the thermal dark matter mass of $m_{\chi }>0.4\text{MeV}$ at $2\sigma$. This bound is independent of the spin and number of internal degrees of freedom of the particle, of the annihilation being s-wave or p-wave, and of the annihilation final state. Furthermore, we show that current BBN plus CMB observations constrain purely electrophilic and neutrinophilic BSM species to have a mass, $m_{\chi }>3.7\text{MeV}$ at $2\sigma$. We explore the reach of future BBN measurements and show that upcoming CMB missions should improve the bounds on light BSM thermal states to $m_{\chi }>(10-15)\text{MeV}$. Finally, we demonstrate that very light BSM species thermally coupled to the SM plasma are highly disfavoured by current cosmological observations.

arXiv comment28 pages, 10 figures, 7 tables. v2. References and minor clarifications added. Matches published version in JCAP

References in corpus (125)

• The clustering of galaxies in the completed SDSS-III Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey: cosmological analysis of the DR12 galaxy sample
• The 6dF Galaxy Survey: Baryon Acoustic Oscillations and the Local Hubble Constant
• The Cosmic Linear Anisotropy Solving System (CLASS) II: Approximation schemes
• Large Magellanic Cloud Cepheid Standards Provide a 1% Foundation for the Determination of the Hubble Constant and Stronger Evidence for Physics Beyond LambdaCDM
• Dark Matter Search Results from a One Tonne$\times$Year Exposure of XENON1T
• The Clustering of the SDSS DR7 Main Galaxy Sample I: A 4 per cent Distance Measure at z=0.15
• Results from a search for dark matter in the complete LUX exposure
• Freeze-In Production of FIMP Dark Matter
• Dark Matter Results From 54-Ton-Day Exposure of PandaX-II Experiment
• The Waning of the WIMP? A Review of Models, Searches, and Constraints
• Conservative Constraints on Early Cosmology: an illustration of the Monte Python cosmological parameter inference code
• A facility to Search for Hidden Particles at the CERN SPS: the SHiP physics case
• Precise Relic WIMP Abundance and its Impact on Searches for Dark Matter Annihilation
• Relic neutrino decoupling including flavour oscillations
• The trouble with $H_0$
• New Fixed-Target Experiments to Search for Dark Gauge Forces
• Scalar Dark Matter candidates
• The SIMP Miracle
• WIMP dark matter candidates and searches - current status and future prospects
• Neutrinos in cosmology
• Big Bang nucleosynthesis and physics beyond the Standard Model
• Asymmetric Dark Matter: Theories, Signatures, and Constraints
• A New Era in the Quest for Dark Matter
• Search for a dark photon in e+e- collisions at BABAR
• Searching for Dark Matter Annihilation in Recently Discovered Milky Way Satellites with Fermi-LAT
• Supernova 1987A Constraints on Sub-GeV Dark Sectors, Millicharged Particles, the QCD Axion, and an Axion-like Particle
• Indirect Dark Matter Signatures in the Cosmic Dark Ages I. Generalizing the Bound on s-wave Dark Matter Annihilation from Planck
• Review of asymmetric dark matter
• Primordial Nucleosynthesis: from precision cosmology to fundamental physics
• MeV Dark Matter: Has It Been Detected?
• Exploring Portals to a Hidden Sector Through Fixed Targets
• The WIMPless Miracle: Dark Matter Particles without Weak-scale Masses or Weak Interactions
• The effects of He I 10830 on helium abundance determinations
• Precision big bang nucleosynthesis with improved Helium-4 predictions
• New Constraints and Prospects for sub-GeV Dark Matter Scattering off Electrons in Xenon
• The Four Basic Ways of Creating Dark Matter Through a Portal
• Light Dark Matter: Models and Constraints
• Reconciling Planck with the local value of $H_0$ in extended parameter space
• Relic neutrino decoupling with flavour oscillations revisited
• Search for Invisible Decays of a Dark Photon Produced in e+e- Collisions at BaBar
• LEP Shines Light on Dark Matter
• Hunting All the Hidden Photons
• Bounds on very low reheating scenarios after Planck
• Constraining Light Dark Matter with Diffuse X-Ray and Gamma-Ray Observations
• Serendipity in dark photon searches
• New Limits on Hidden Photons from Past Electron Beam Dumps
• Probing a Secluded U(1) at B-factories
• Search for dark matter and other new phenomena in events with an energetic jet and large missing transverse momentum using the ATLAS detector
• A Lower Bound on the Mass of Cold Thermal Dark Matter from Planck
• PArthENoPE: Public Algorithm Evaluating the Nucleosynthesis of Primordial Elements
• New Detectors to Explore the Lifetime Frontier
• Probing Light Thermal Dark-Matter With a Higgs Portal Mediator
• Constraints on Sub-GeV Dark Matter-Electron Scattering from the DarkSide-50 Experiment
• Exploring nu signals in dark matter detectors
• A new determination of the primordial He abundance using the HeI 10830A emission line: cosmological implications
• Revisiting Big-Bang Nucleosynthesis Constraints on Long-Lived Decaying Particles
• Severely Constraining Dark Matter Interpretations of the 21-cm Anomaly
• Cosmology With a Very Light $L_{\mu }-L_{\tau }$ Gauge Boson
• Probing cosmological parameters with the CMB: Forecasts from full Monte Carlo simulations
• SENSEI: Direct-Detection Constraints on Sub-GeV Dark Matter from a Shallow Underground Run Using a Prototype Skipper-CCD
• Dark Radiation constraints on minicharged particles in models with a hidden photon
• Big Bang Nucleosynthesis as a Probe of New Physics
• Constraining the Self-Interacting Neutrino Interpretation of the Hubble Tension
• Search for dark photons produced in 13 TeV $pp$ collisions
• Constraining Light Dark Matter with Low-Energy e+e- Colliders
• Constraining Dark Energy Dynamics in Extended Parameter Space
• Status of the scalar singlet dark matter model
• Probing sub-GeV Dark Matter-Baryon Scattering with Cosmological Observables
• Coherent Propagation of PeV Neutrinos and the Dip in the Neutrino Spectrum at IceCube
• Making dark matter out of light: freeze-in from plasma effects
• Neutrino decoupling beyond the Standard Model: CMB constraints on the Dark Matter mass with a fast and precise $N_{\mathrm{eff}}$ evaluation
• Direct Detection of sub-GeV Dark Matter with Scintillating Targets
• BBN And The CMB Constrain Neutrino Coupled Light WIMPs
• Search for narrow and broad dijet resonances in proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s}=$ 13 TeV and constraints on dark matter mediators and other new particles
• Constraining Dark Matter-Neutrino Interactions using the CMB and Large-Scale Structure
• Bounds on the Coupling of the Majoron to Light Neutrinos from Supernova Cooling
• Modulation Effects in Dark Matter-Electron Scattering Experiments
• Toward (Finally!) Ruling Out Z and Higgs Mediated Dark Matter Models
• The primordial deuterium abundance of the most metal-poor damped Lyman-alpha system
• BBN And The CMB Constrain Light, Electromagnetically Coupled WIMPs
• Constraints on millicharged particles from Planck
• PArthENoPE reloaded
• Higgs portal dark matter in the minimal gauged $U(1{)}_{B-L}$ model
• Neutrino Portals to Dark Matter
• Are small neutrino masses unveiling the missing mass problem of the Universe?
• MeV-mass dark matter and primordial nucleosynthesis
• Probing MeV Dark Matter at Low--Energy $e^{+}{e}^{-}$ Colliders
• Leptophobic Dark Matter at Neutrino Factories
• Signatures of sub-GeV dark matter beams at neutrino experiments
• Self-interacting dark matter and muon $g-2$ in a gauged U$(1{)}_{L_{\mu }-L_{\tau }}$ model
• New reaction rates for improved primordial D/H calculation and the cosmic evolution of deuterium
• Dark matter-neutrino interactions through the lens of their cosmological implications
• BBN constraints on MeV-scale dark sectors. Part II. Electromagnetic decays
• Supernova Constraints on MeV Dark Sectors from e+ e- Annihilations
• Thermal Dark Matter Below an MeV
• BBN constraints on the annihilation of MeV-scale dark matter
• Thermal Dark Matter Through the Dirac Neutrino Portal
• Imaging Galactic Dark Matter with High-Energy Cosmic Neutrinos
• Let there be Light Dark Matter: The gauged $U(1{)}_{L_{\mu }-L_{\tau }}$ case
• Dark matter from dark photons: a taxonomy of dark matter production
• Testing MeV dark matter with neutrino detectors
• Leptophilic Dark Matter and the Anomalous Magnetic Moment of the Muon
• Equivalent Neutrinos, Light WIMPs, and the Chimera of Dark Radiation
• The primordial deuterium abundance: subDLA system at $z_{\mathrm{abs}}=2.437$ towards the QSO J1444+2919
• A minimal model linking two great mysteries: neutrino mass and dark matter
• Prospects for indirect dark matter searches with MeV photons
• Supernova Constraints on Massive (Pseudo)Scalar Coupling to Neutrinos
• Mono-Neutrino at DUNE: New Signals From Neutrinophilic Thermal Dark Matter
• Limits on MeV Dark Matter from the Effective Number of Neutrinos
• On the baryometric status of He3
• Ruling out the light WIMP explanation of the galactic 511 keV line
• The Dark $L_{\mu }-L_{\tau }$ Rises via Kinetic Mixing
• A precise deuterium abundance: Re-measurement of the z=3.572 absorption system towards the quasar PKS1937-101
• Limits from BBN on Light Electromagnetic Decays
• Supernova signals of light dark matter
• Neutrino Masses from a Dark Neutrino Sector below the Electroweak Scale
• The primordial deuterium abundance at z = 2.504 from a high signal-to-noise spectrum of Q1009+2956
• Dark Sector Equilibration During Nucleosynthesis
• Search for dark Higgsstrahlung in e+ e- -> mu+ mu- and missing energy events with the KLOE experiment
• $Z^{\prime }$ Mediated WIMPs: Dead, Dying, or Soon to be Detected?
• The Dispirited Case of Gauged $U(1{)}_{B-L}$ Dark Matter
• Flavoring Monochromatic Neutrino Flux from Dark Matter Annihilation
• Constraints on MeV dark matter using neutrino detectors and their implication for the 21-cm results
• BBN with light dark matter
• Linking Scalar Dark Matter and Neutrino Masses with IceCube 170922A

Cited by in corpus (115)

• Precision Early Universe Thermodynamics made simple: $N_{\mathrm{eff}}$ and Neutrino Decoupling in the Standard Model and beyond
• Dark Matter Annihilation to Neutrinos
• Cosmological Constraints on Dark Matter Interactions with Ordinary Matter
• Maximizing Direct Detection with Highly Interactive Particle Relic Dark Matter
• An Extended Analysis of Heavy Neutral Leptons during Big Bang Nucleosynthesis
• Integral X-ray constraints on sub-GeV Dark Matter
• Direct Detection Signals from Absorption of Fermionic Dark Matter
• Lower Mass Bounds on FIMP Dark Matter Produced via Freeze-In
• The cosmology of sub-MeV dark matter freeze-in
• Strong constraints on decay and annihilation of dark matter from heating of gas-rich dwarf galaxies
• Updated BBN constraints on electromagnetic decays of MeV-scale particles
• Precise WIMP Dark Matter Abundance and Standard Model Thermodynamics
• Neutrino experiments probe hadrophilic light dark matter
• Joint CMB and BBN Constraints on Light Dark Sectors with Dark Radiation
• Constraints on a mixed model of dark matter particles and primordial black holes from the Galactic 511 keV line
• Indications for a Nonzero Lepton Asymmetry from Extremely Metal-Poor Galaxies
• Cosmological Constraints on First-Order Phase Transitions
• Light(ly)-coupled Dark Matter in the keV Range: Freeze-In and Constraints
• Primordial lepton asymmetries in the precision cosmology era: Current status and future sensitivities from BBN and the CMB
• Addressing $H_0$ tension with emergent dark radiation in unitary gravity
• Present and future status of light dark matter models from cosmic-ray electron upscattering
• The 511 keV Excess and Primordial Black Holes
• Testing dark matter interactions with CMB spectral distortions
• Les Houches Lectures on Indirect Detection of Dark Matter
• Towards a reliable calculation of relic radiation from primordial gravitational waves
• Forbidden Dark Matter Annihilations into Standard Model Particles
• Searching for Sub-GeV Dark Matter in the Galactic Centre using Hyper-Kamiokande
• Addendum: Refined bounds on MeV-scale thermal dark sectors from BBN and the CMB
• Light Dark Matter from Entropy Dilution
• New Pathways to the Relic Abundance of Vector-Portal Dark Matter
• Resonant or asymmetric: The status of sub-GeV dark matter
• Search for U(1)${}_{L_{\mu }-L_{\tau }}$ charged Dark Matter with neutrino telescope
• Light Dark Sectors through the Fermion Portal
• Electron scattering of light new particles from evaporating primordial black holes
• Resonant Sub-GeV Dirac Dark Matter
• Scalar Dark Matter Candidates -- Revisited
• A Dark Sink Enhances the Direct Detection of Freeze-in Dark Matter
• Constraining Dark Matter properties with the first generation of stars
• Constraints on primordial lepton asymmetries with full neutrino transport
• What does cosmology tell us about the mass of thermal-relic dark matter?
• Gravitational waves from a dark $U(1{)}_D$ phase transition in the light of NANOGrav 12.5 yr data
• Coherent Elastic Neutrino-Nucleus Scattering with directional detectors
• Endothermic self-interacting dark matter in Milky Way-like dark matter haloes
• Light mass window of lepton portal dark matter
• Azimuthal asymmetry in cosmic-ray boosted dark matter flux
• Dark Matter from Exponential Growth
• Towards a full description of MeV dark matter decoupling: a self-consistent determination of relic abundance and $N_{\mathrm{eff}}$
• Probing Light Dark Matter through Cosmic-Ray Cooling in Active Galactic Nuclei
• Gravitational Radiation from hyperbolic encounters in the presence of dark matter
• When FIMPs Decay into Neutrinos: The $N_{\mathrm{eff}}$ Story
• Dark matter models for the 511 keV galactic line predict keV electron recoils on Earth
• From WIMPs to FIMPs: Impact of Early Matter Domination
• Hadronic Footprint of GeV-Mass Dark Matter
• WIMPs Without Weakness: Generalized Mass Window with Entropy Injection
• GRB 221009A Gamma Rays from Radiative Decay of Heavy Neutrinos?
• Constraints on electron-scattering interpretation of XENON1T excess
• A multi-component SIMP model with $U(1{)}_X\to Z_2\times Z_3$
• Optomechanical dark matter instrument for direct detection
• Current constraints on cosmological scenarios with very low reheating temperatures
• Canonical seesaw implication for two-component dark matter
• Neutrino lines from MeV dark matter annihilation and decay in JUNO
• Cosmological Bounds on sub-GeV Dark Vector Bosons from Electromagnetic Energy Injection
• Extending the Discovery Potential for Inelastic-Dipole Dark Matter with FASER
• Light lepton portal dark matter meets the LHC
• Simple estimate of BBN sensitivity to light freeze-in dark matter
• Displaced Searches for Light Vector Bosons at Belle II
• Constraints on new physics around the MeV scale with cosmological observations
• Neutrino secret self-interactions: a booster shot for the cosmic neutrino background
• Dark Moments for the Standard Model ?
• Contributions to $\Delta N_{eff}$ from the dark photon of $U(1{)}_{T3R}$
• New Thermal Relic Targets for Inelastic Vector-Portal Dark Matter
• Cosmology and prospects for sub-MeV dark matter in electron recoil experiments
• Manifesting hidden dynamics of a sub-component dark matter
• Scalar Co-SIMP Dark Matter: Models and Sensitivities
• Dark matter produced from neutrinos
• Testing freeze-in with axial and vector $Z^{\prime }$ bosons
• Matching the mass function of Milky Way satellites in competing dark matter models
• Dark Initial State Radiation and the Kinetic Mixing Portal
• Anomalous Ionization in the Central Molecular Zone by sub-GeV Dark Matter
• The Morphology of Exciting Dark Matter and the Galactic 511 keV Signal
• Sub-GeV Dark Matter Annihilation: Limits from Milky Way observations with INTEGRAL
• Illuminating the dark: mono-$\gamma$ signals at NA62
• LINX: A Fast, Differentiable, and Extensible Big Bang Nucleosynthesis Package
• Sub-GeV dark matter and nano-Hertz gravitational waves from a classically conformal dark sector
• Early kinetic decoupling effect on the forbidden dark matter annihilations into standard model particles
• Sub-MeV Dark Sink Dark Matter
• Light vector bosons and the weak mixing angle in the light of future germanium-based reactor CE$\nu$NS experiments
• Search for Cosmic-ray Boosted Sub-MeV Dark-Matter-Electron Scattering in PandaX-4T
• Anticipating the XRISM search for the decay of resonantly produced sterile neutrino dark matter
• Boosted Dark Matter From Centaurus A and Its Detection
• Neutrino portals to MeV WIMPs with s-channel mediators
• Fast and Flexible Neutrino Decoupling Part I: The Standard Model
• Dark charge versus electric charge
• Zooming in on eV-MeV Scale Sterile Neutrinos in light of Neutrinoless Double Beta Decay
• Positronium Decays with Dark $Z$ and Fermionic Dark Matter
• Cosmological Parameter Estimation with a Joint-Likelihood Analysis of the Cosmic Microwave Background and Big Bang Nucleosynthesis
• Reconstructing the early-universe expansion and thermal history
• Prospects of detecting cosmic ray up-scattered dark matter with DUNE
• Did IceCube discover Dark Matter around Blazars?
• Indirect searches for realistic sub-GeV Dark Matter models
• Interacting light thermal-relic dark matter: self-consistent cosmological bounds
• The Bactrian Effect: Multiple Resonances and Light Dirac Dark Matter
• BBN Constraints on the Hadronic Annihilation of sub-GeV Dark Matter
• EDGES of the dark forest: A new absorption window into the composite dark matter and large scale structure
• Diffuse astrophysical neutrinos from dark matter around blazars
• Investigating sub-MeV dark matter annihilation to neutrinos using direct detection experiments
• New Limits on Light Dark Matter-Nucleon Scattering
• CMB Constraints on Loop-Induced Decays of Leptophilic Dark Matter
• Dark Secrets of Baryons: Illuminating Dark Matter-Baryon Interactions with JWST
• Strongly-interacting massive particle and dark photon in the era of intensity frontier
• Searching for MeV-mass neutrinophilic Dark Matter with Large Scale Dark Matter Detectors
• Large Neutrino-Dark Matter Interactions: From Effective Field Theory to Ultraviolet Completions
• Probing the muon $g-2$ with future beam dump experiments
• Explaining lepton-flavor non-universality and self-interacting dark matter with $L_{\mu }-L_{\tau }$
• Cogenesis of visible and dark matter in a scotogenic model