Dark matter-neutrino interactions through the lens of their cosmological implications

Olivares-Del Campo, Andrés; Bœhm, Céline; Palomares-Ruiz, Sergio; Pascoli, Silvia

Abstract

Dark matter and neutrinos provide the two most compelling pieces of evidence for new physics beyond the Standard Model of particle physics, but they are often treated as two different sectors. The aim of this paper is to determine whether there are viable particle physics frameworks in which dark matter can be coupled to active neutrinos. We use a simplified model approach to determine all possible scenarios where there is such a coupling and study their astrophysical and cosmological signatures. We find that dark matter–neutrino interactions have an impact on structure formation and lead to indirect detection signatures when the coupling between dark matter and neutrinos is sufficiently large. This can be used to exclude a large fraction of the parameter space. In most cases, dark matter masses up to a few MeV and mediator masses up to a few GeV are ruled out. The exclusion region can be further extended when dark matter is coupled to a spin-1 mediator or when the dark matter particle and the mediator are degenerate in mass if the mediator is a spin-0 or spin-1/2 particle.

Citation

Olivares-Del Campo, A., Bœhm, C., Palomares-Ruiz, S., & Pascoli, S. (2018). Dark matter-neutrino interactions through the lens of their cosmological implications. Physical Review D, 97(7), Article 075039. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevd.97.075039

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Dec 9, 2017
• Online Publication Date: Apr 30, 2018
• Publication Date: Apr 30, 2018
• Deposit Date: May 24, 2018
• Publicly Available Date: May 24, 2018
• Journal: Physical Review D
• Print ISSN: 2470-0010
• Electronic ISSN: 2470-0029
• Publisher: American Physical Society
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 97
• Issue: 7
• Article Number: 075039
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevd.97.075039
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1358327