Resonant Conversion of Wave Dark Matter in the Ionosphere

Area of Science:

• Astrophysics
• Particle Physics
• Geophysics

Background:

• Dark matter detection remains a significant challenge in physics.
• The Earth's ionosphere provides a unique plasma environment.
• Previous methods for detecting low-mass dark matter are limited.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate resonant conversion of dark matter into radio waves in the ionosphere.
• To explore a new detection strategy for dark photon and axionlike particle dark matter.
• To determine the optimal mass range for this detection method.

Main Methods:

• Solving a second-order boundary-value problem for dark matter conversion.
• Modeling the ionosphere as a driven cavity with a positionally varying plasma.
• Analyzing the sensitivity of electrically small dipole antennas to generated radio waves.

Main Results:

• Resonant conversion is most effective for dark matter masses between 10^-9 and 10^-8 eV.
• The proposed method significantly enhances sensitivity to specific dark matter candidates.
• A non-linear approach is necessary due to the nature of dark matter and the ionosphere.

Conclusions:

• This research presents a novel and promising avenue for dark matter detection.
• The ionospheric conversion method opens up unexplored parameter space for dark matter searches.
• Future dedicated instruments could further improve the sensitivity of this detection technique.