Speaker
Dr
Paul Frederik Depta
(Max-Planck-Institut für Kernphysik)
Description
We propose a novel mechanism for the production of dark matter (DM) from a thermal bath, based on the idea that DM particles $\chi$ can transform heat bath particles $\psi$: $\chi \psi \to \chi \chi$. For a small initial abundance of $\chi$ this leads to an exponential growth of the DM number density, in close analogy to other familiar exponential growth processes in nature. We demonstrate that this mechanism complements freeze-in and freeze-out production in a generic way, opening new parameter space to explain the observed DM abundance. Finally, we discuss possible model realizations in the contexts of Higgs portal couplings as well as sterile neutrinos, and investigate observational prospects for such scenarios.
Author
Dr
Paul Frederik Depta
(Max-Planck-Institut für Kernphysik)
Co-authors
Prof.
Torsten Bringmann
(University of Oslo (NO))
Dr
Marco Hufnagel
(Service de Physique Théorique, Université Libre de Bruxelles)
Prof.
Joern Kersten
(Department of Physics and Technology, University of Bergen)
Prof.
Joshua T. Ruderman
(Center for Cosmology and Particle Physics, Department of Physics, New York University)
Dr
Kai Schmidt-Hoberg
(Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY)
