Fingerprints of freeze-in dark matter in an early matter-dominated era
Journal article, 2022

We study the impact of an alternate cosmological history with an early matter-dominated epoch on the freeze-in production of dark matter. Such early matter domination is triggered by a meta-stable matter field dissipating into radiation. In general, the dissipation rate has a non-trivial temperature and scale factor dependence. Compared to the usual case of dark matter production via the freeze-in mechanism in a radiation-dominated universe, in this scenario, orders of magnitude larger coupling between the visible and the dark sector can be accommodated. Finally, as a proof of principle, we consider a specific model where the dark matter is produced by a sub-GeV dark photon having a kinetic mixing with the Standard Model photon. We point out that the parameter space of this model can be probed by the experiments in the presence of an early matter-dominated era.

Author

Avik Banerjee

Chalmers, Physics, Subatomic, High Energy and Plasma Physics

Debtosh Chowdhury

Indian Institute of Technology

SciPost Physics

25424653 (eISSN)

Vol. 13 2 022

Subject Categories

Subatomic Physics

Meteorology and Atmospheric Sciences

Oceanography, Hydrology, Water Resources

DOI

10.21468/SciPostPhys.13.2.022

More information

Latest update

5/29/2024