WIMP-like Dark Matter Without Thermalization At Freeze-Out
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arXiv
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| Autores principales: | , , |
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| Formato: | Preprint |
| Publicado: |
2026
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| _version_ | 1866918511840854016 |
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| author | Hooper, Dan Krnjaic, Gordan Montefalcone, Gabriele |
| author_facet | Hooper, Dan Krnjaic, Gordan Montefalcone, Gabriele |
| contents | In the standard thermal relic scenario, dark matter remains in chemical equilibrium with the Standard Model radiation bath until freeze-out occurs at $T \sim m_X/20$, where $m_X$ is the dark matter mass. In this familiar class of models, the observed relic density is obtained for annihilation cross sections of order $σv \sim 10^{-26}$ cm$^3$/s. We show that comparable cross sections can naturally be realized in hidden-sector models in which the dark matter and Standard Model sectors decouple at a very high temperature, $T \gg m_X$, and subsequently evolve with separate thermal histories. Despite this decoupling, the two sectors have similar temperatures during freeze-out, leading to the usual thermal relic abundance. As a consequence, the coupling between the Standard Model and hidden sectors can be extremely small, potentially placing direct detection and collider signals far below foreseeable sensitivities. |
| format | Preprint |
| id |
arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2605_20186 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2026 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | WIMP-like Dark Matter Without Thermalization At Freeze-Out Hooper, Dan Krnjaic, Gordan Montefalcone, Gabriele High Energy Physics - Phenomenology Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics High Energy Physics - Theory In the standard thermal relic scenario, dark matter remains in chemical equilibrium with the Standard Model radiation bath until freeze-out occurs at $T \sim m_X/20$, where $m_X$ is the dark matter mass. In this familiar class of models, the observed relic density is obtained for annihilation cross sections of order $σv \sim 10^{-26}$ cm$^3$/s. We show that comparable cross sections can naturally be realized in hidden-sector models in which the dark matter and Standard Model sectors decouple at a very high temperature, $T \gg m_X$, and subsequently evolve with separate thermal histories. Despite this decoupling, the two sectors have similar temperatures during freeze-out, leading to the usual thermal relic abundance. As a consequence, the coupling between the Standard Model and hidden sectors can be extremely small, potentially placing direct detection and collider signals far below foreseeable sensitivities. |
| title | WIMP-like Dark Matter Without Thermalization At Freeze-Out |
| topic | High Energy Physics - Phenomenology Cosmology and Nongalactic Astrophysics High Energy Physics - Theory |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2605.20186 |