CMB and Lyman-$\alpha$ constraints on dark matter decays to photons

Abstract

Dark matter energy injection in the early universe modifies both the ionization history and the temperature of the intergalactic medium. In this work, we improve the CMB bounds on sub-keV dark matter and extend previous bounds from Lyman-$\alpha$ observations to the same mass range, resulting in new and competitive constraints on axion-like particles (ALPs) decaying into two photons. The limits depend on the underlying reionization history, here accounted self-consistently by our modified version of the publicly available {\tt DarkHistory} and {\tt CLASS} codes. Future measurements such as the ones from the CMB-S4 experiment may play a crucial, leading role in the search for this type of light dark matter candidates.

18 pages, 8 figures, Version to appear on JCAP. Our modified version of CLASS is available at https://github.com/llopezho/CLASS_DMdecay

References in corpus (15)

• The Cosmic Linear Anisotropy Solving System (CLASS) I: Overview
• CMB Constraints on WIMP Annihilation: Energy Absorption During the Recombination Epoch
• CMB-S4 Science Case, Reference Design, and Project Plan
• General Constraints on Dark Matter Decay from the Cosmic Microwave Background
• The nature and evolution of the highly ionized near-zones in the absorption spectra of z~6 quasars
• The Effects of Dark Matter Decay and Annihilation on the High-Redshift 21 cm Background
• The synergy between CMB spectral distortions and anisotropies
• Constraining DM through 21 cm observations
• Unveiling the nature of dark matter with high redshift 21 cm line experiments
• Strong constraints on decay and annihilation of dark matter from heating of gas-rich dwarf galaxies
• Probing the Blue Axion with Cosmic Optical Background Anisotropies
• Gravitational waves from axion-like particle cosmic string-wall networks
• Challenges for heavy QCD axion inflation
• Superradiant axion clouds around asteroid-mass primordial black holes
• Seeking dark matter with $\gamma$-ray attenuation

Cited by in corpus (16)

• Axion Star Explosions: A New Source for Axion Indirect Detection
• 21cm signal sensitivity to dark matter decay
• New Source for QCD Axion Dark Matter Production: Curvature Induced
• Constraints on freeze-in dark matter from Lyman-$\alpha$ forest and 21-cm signal : single-field models
• Probing Long-Range Forces Between Neutrinos with Cosmic Structures
• Prospects for probing dark matter particles and primordial black holes with the Hongmeng mission using the 21 cm global spectrum at cosmic dawn
• Upcoming searches for decaying dark matter with ULTRASAT ultraviolet maps
• No Warm Inflation From a Vanilla Axion
• Multi-Component Dark Matter from Minimal Flavor Violation
• Lyman-$\alpha$ limit on axion-like cold dark matter
• Limits on scalar dark matter interactions with particles other than the photon via loop corrections to the scalar-photon coupling
• CMB Constraints on Loop-Induced Decays of Leptophilic Dark Matter
• Probing Non-Minimal Dark Sectors via the 21 cm Line at Cosmic Dawn
• Translating current ALP photon coupling strength bounds to the Randall-Sundrum model
• The Glow of Axion Quark Nugget Dark Matter: (IV) CMB Spectral and Anisotropy Signatures
• Freeze-in Dark Matter via Lepton Portal: Hubble Tension and Stellar Cooling