Dark Matter Relic Density Revisited: The Case For Early Kinetic Decoupling

Abstract

Kinetic decoupling of dark matter typically happens much later than chemical freeze-out. In fact, local thermal equilibrium is an important assumption for the usual relic density calculations based on solving the Boltzmann equation (for its 0-th moment) describing the dark matter number density. But is this assumption always justified? Here we address this question and discuss the consequences of more accurate treatments. The first treatment is relying on the inclusion of higher moments of the Boltzmann equation and the second on solving the evolution of the phase-space distribution function fully numerically. For illustration, these methods are applied to the Scalar Singlet model, often referred to as the simplest WIMP DM possibility from a model-building perspective. It is explicitly shown that even in this simple model the prediction for the dark matter abundance can be affected by as much as one order of magnitude.