Search

Sub-GeV dark matter (DM) particles produced via thermal freeze-out evade many of the strong constraints on heavier DM candidates but at the same time face a multitude of new constraints from laboratory experiments, astrophysical observations and cosmological data. In this work we combine all of these constraints in order to perform frequentist and Bayesian global analyses of fermionic and scalar sub-GeV DM coupled to a dark photon with kinetic mixing. For fermionic DM, we find viable parameter regions close to the dark photon resonance, which expand significantly when including a particle-antiparticle asymmetry. For scalar DM, the velocity-dependent annihilation cross section evades the strongest constraints even in the symmetric case. Using Bayesian model comparison, we show that both asymmetric fermionic DM and symmetric scalar DM are preferred over symmetric fermionic DM due to the reduced fine-tuning penalty. Finally, we explore the discovery prospects of near-future experiments both in the full parameter space and for specific benchmark points. We find that the most commonly used benchmark scenarios are already in tension with existing constraints and propose a new benchmark point that can be targeted with future searches., Comment: 59 pages, 5 tables, 24 figures

The current framework for dark matter searches at beam dump and fixed target experiments relies on four benchmark models, the complex scalar, inelastic scalar, pseudo-Dirac and finally, Majorana DM models. While this approach has so far been successful in the interpretation of the available data, it a priori excludes the possibility that DM is made of spin-1 particles -- a restriction which is neither theoretically nor experimentally justified. In this work we extend the current landscape of sub-GeV DM models to a set of models for spin-1 DM, including a family of simplified models (involving one DM candidate and one mediator -- the dark photon) and an ultraviolet complete model based on a non-abelian gauge group where DM is a spin-1 Strongly Interacting Massive Particle. For each of these models, we calculate the DM relic density, the expected number of signal events at beam dump experiments, the rate of energy injection in the early universe thermal bath and in the Intergalactic Medium, as well as the helicity amplitudes for forward processes subject to the unitary bound. We then compare these predictions with experimental results from Planck, CMB surveys, IGM temperature observations, LSND, MiniBooNE, NA64, and BaBar and with available projections from LDMX and Belle II. Through this comparison, we identify the regions in the parameter space of the models considered in this work where DM is simultaneously thermally produced, compatible with present observations, and within reach at Belle II and LDMX. We find that the simplified models are strongly constrained by current beam dump experiments and the unitarity bound, and will thus be conclusively probed in the first stage of LDMX data taking. We also find that the SIMP model explored in this work predicts the observed DM abundance, is compatible with current observations and within reach at LDMX in a wide region of the parameter space.

The freeze-in production of Feebly Interacting Massive Particle (FIMP) dark matter in the early universe is an appealing alternative to the well-known - and constrained - Weakly Interacting Massive Particle (WIMP) paradigm. Although challenging, the phenomenology of FIMP dark matter has been receiving growing attention and is possible in a few scenarios. In this work, we contribute to this endeavor by considering a $Z^\prime$ portal to fermionic dark matter, with the $Z^\prime$ having both vector and axial couplings and a mass ranging from MeV up to PeV. We evaluate the bounds on both freeze-in and freeze-out from direct detection, atomic parity violation, leptonic anomalous magnetic moments, neutrino-electron scattering, collider, and beam dump experiments. We show that FIMPs can already be tested by most of these experiments in a complementary way, whereas WIMPs are especially viable in the $Z^\prime$ low mass regime, in addition to the $Z^\prime$ resonance region. We also discuss the role of the axial couplings of $Z^\prime$ in our results. We therefore hope to motivate specific realizations of this model in the context of FIMPs, as well as searches for these elusive dark matter candidates., Comment: v2: Minor corrections, discussion expanded, updated figures, references added. Matches journal version