Axion Dark Matter from Heavy Quarks

Mohammad Aghaie; Giovanni Armando; Angela Conaci; Alessandro Dondarini; Peter Matak; Paolo Panci; Zuzana Sinska; Robert Ziegler

arXiv · 2404.12199

Axion Dark Matter from Heavy Quarks

Mohammad Aghaie·Giovanni Armando·Angela Conaci·Alessandro Dondarini·Peter Matak·Paolo Panci·Zuzana Sinska·Robert Ziegler

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Abstract

We propose simple scenarios where the observed dark matter abundance arises from decays and scatterings of heavy quarks through freeze-in of an axion-like particle with mass in the $10 {\rm \, keV} - 1 {\rm \, MeV}$ range. These models can be tested by future X-ray telescopes, and in some cases will be almost entirely probed by searches for two-body decays $K \to \pi + {\rm invis.}$ at NA62. As a byproduct, we discuss the cancellation of IR divergencies in flavor-violating scattering processes relevant for thermal axion production, and derive the general contribution to axion-photon couplings from all three light quarks.

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Mohammad Aghaie, Giovanni Armando, Angela Conaci, Alessandro Dondarini, Peter Matak, Paolo Panci, Zuzana Sinska, Robert Ziegler. 2024-04-18. Axion Dark Matter from Heavy Quarks. https://arxiv.org/abs/2404.12199

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