arXiv · 2509.25308
Thermal Damping of Neutrino-Coupled Scalar Dark Matter
Abstract
We point out that ultralight scalar dark matter that modulates neutrino masses can be significantly thermal damped by cosmic neutrinos in the early universe. This dissipative effect arises as a backreaction from the neutrinos which are being driven slightly out of thermal equilibrium by the scalar. We estimate the rate of such thermal damping and explore its phenomenological implications. For a scalar that is produced early, we find that the effect of thermal damping results in a predictable final abundance largely insensitive to its initial condition while circumventing late time limits. This motivates a parameter-space line to target experimentally.
Explore related subjects
Keep this discovery
Explore connections, maps & timelines
Abhishek Banerjee, Ngan H. Nguyen, Erwin H. Tanin. 2025-09-29. Thermal Damping of Neutrino-Coupled Scalar Dark Matter. https://arxiv.org/abs/2509.25308
Cite the original work for its findings. Save a collection to share your selection of sources.