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Published on: March 30, 2017
Coherent Freeze-Out of Dark Matter
Steven Ferrante1, Maxim Perelstein1, Bingrong Yu1
1Cornell University, Department of Physics, LEPP, Ithaca, New York 14853, USA.
Physical Review Letters
|June 7, 2026
Summary
This study introduces a new coherent freeze-out mechanism for dark matter. It shows how interactions between weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs) and axionlike particles (ALPs) can explain dark matter abundance.
Area of Science:
- Particle Physics
- Cosmology
- Astrophysics
Background:
- Weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs) and axionlike particles (ALPs) are leading candidates for dark matter.
- Understanding dark matter's origin and properties is a major challenge in modern physics.
Purpose of the Study:
- To propose a novel coherent freeze-out mechanism involving WIMPs and ALPs.
- To investigate how their interaction modifies dark matter dynamics and abundance.
- To explore implications for dark matter composition and properties.
Main Methods:
- Introducing a quadratic coupling between WIMPs and ALPs.
- Analyzing coherent forward scattering effects on particle masses.
- Examining ALP potential symmetry breaking via first-order transitions or crossovers.
- Calculating WIMP freeze-out and ALP misalignment dynamics.
Main Results:
- Coherent scattering induces medium-dependent mass shifts, altering WIMP freeze-out and ALP dynamics.
- In a first-order transition scenario, WIMPs alone form dark matter with significantly enhanced annihilation cross sections.
- In a crossover scenario, a Planck-suppressed coupling naturally produces the observed ALP dark matter abundance, independent of initial conditions.
Conclusions:
- The proposed mechanism offers a new pathway to understand dark matter formation.
- It provides distinct scenarios for dark matter composition (WIMP-dominated or ALP-dominated).
- The model's predictions are testable through cosmological observations and particle physics experiments.
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