Solar reflection of light dark matter with heavy mediators

Abstract

The direct detection of sub-GeV dark matter particles is hampered by their low energy deposits. If the maximum deposit allowed by kinematics falls below the energy threshold of a direct detection experiment, it is unable to detect these light particles. Mechanisms that boost particles from the galactic halo can therefore extend the sensitivity of terrestrial direct dark matter searches to lower masses. Sub-GeV and sub-MeV dark matter particles can be efficiently accelerated by colliding with thermal nuclei and electrons of the solar plasma respectively. This process is called 'solar reflection'. In this paper, we present a comprehensive study of solar reflection via electron and/or nuclear scatterings using Monte Carlo simulations of dark matter trajectories through the Sun. We study the properties of the boosted dark matter particles, obtain exclusion limits based on various experiments probing both electron and nuclear recoils, and derive projections for future detectors. In addition, we find and quantify a novel, distinct annual modulation signature of a potential solar reflection signal which critically depends on the anisotropies of the boosted dark matter flux ejected from the Sun. Along with this paper, we also publish the corresponding research software.

34 pages, 18 figures, 3 appendices. The simulation code is available under https://github.com/temken/DaMaSCUS-SUN and version 0.1.1 is archived under https://zenodo.org/record/5957388 . v2: Matches the version published in PRD

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• An Analytic Approach to Light Dark Matter Propagation
• Experimental Limits on Solar Reflected Dark Matter with a New Approach on Accelerated-Dark-Matter-Electron Analysis in Semiconductors
• Accelerated Light Dark Matter-Earth Inelastic Scattering in Direct Detection
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• Attenuation of Cosmic Ray Electron Boosted Dark Matter
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• Impact of Sub-MeV Dark Matter on the Cooling of Pulsating White Dwarfs
• Study of sub-GeV Dipolar Dark States at SND@LHC within Invisible Bounds on Meson Decays
• Constraints on dark matter boosted by supernova shock within the effective field theory framework from the CDEX-10 experiment
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