Reviving WIMP dark matter with temperature-dependent couplings
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arXiv
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| Hauptverfasser: | , , |
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| Format: | Preprint |
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2025
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| _version_ | 1866911697768284160 |
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| author | Borah, Debasish Dasgupta, Arnab Wu, Tong Arthur |
| author_facet | Borah, Debasish Dasgupta, Arnab Wu, Tong Arthur |
| contents | The persistent null results at dark matter (DM) direct-detection experiments have pushed the popular weakly interacting massive particle (WIMP) DM to tight corners. Generic WIMP models with direct-detection rate below the current upper limits often lead to a thermally overproduced relic abundance after freeze-out. To resolve this conundrum, we propose a novel scenario where DM has temperature-dependent couplings with the standard model (SM) bath. A scalar field having a large vacuum expectation value (VEV) at high temperatures generates sizeable DM-SM interactions leading to efficient DM annihilations responsible for generating the desired thermal relic. At lower temperatures, the scalar field VEV settles down to a small value as a result of a phase transition which can generically be of first order, effectively leading to suppressed DM-SM interaction rate at low temperature, consistent with null results at direct-detection experiments. Upper bound on thermal DM mass forces the first-order phase transition (FOPT) to occur at scales such that the corresponding gravitational wave signal remains within reach of future experiments like LISA. |
| format | Preprint |
| id |
arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2509_07070 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2025 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | Reviving WIMP dark matter with temperature-dependent couplings Borah, Debasish Dasgupta, Arnab Wu, Tong Arthur High Energy Physics - Phenomenology Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics The persistent null results at dark matter (DM) direct-detection experiments have pushed the popular weakly interacting massive particle (WIMP) DM to tight corners. Generic WIMP models with direct-detection rate below the current upper limits often lead to a thermally overproduced relic abundance after freeze-out. To resolve this conundrum, we propose a novel scenario where DM has temperature-dependent couplings with the standard model (SM) bath. A scalar field having a large vacuum expectation value (VEV) at high temperatures generates sizeable DM-SM interactions leading to efficient DM annihilations responsible for generating the desired thermal relic. At lower temperatures, the scalar field VEV settles down to a small value as a result of a phase transition which can generically be of first order, effectively leading to suppressed DM-SM interaction rate at low temperature, consistent with null results at direct-detection experiments. Upper bound on thermal DM mass forces the first-order phase transition (FOPT) to occur at scales such that the corresponding gravitational wave signal remains within reach of future experiments like LISA. |
| title | Reviving WIMP dark matter with temperature-dependent couplings |
| topic | High Energy Physics - Phenomenology Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2509.07070 |