Dark matter bound-states made easy

Abstract

A light force carrier can mediate long-range interactions between dark matter particles and facilitate the formation of bound states. Models incorporating these features have attracted considerable attention in recent years, with significant advances in both the theoretical understanding of such bound states and their impact on the parameter space consistent with the observed dark matter relic abundance. However, the relevant results and their consistent implementation in Boltzmann equations remain technically intricate, requiring careful treatment or the use of specialized tools. This complexity has hindered broader adoption of these findings and restricted their use to a small number of expert groups. To address this challenge, we propose a simple prescription based on the analytic limits of the relevant rates, which allows standard freeze-out computations to be refined through a straightforward semi-analytical prescription that captures the main features of the full calculation. We illustrate this approach for a $U(1)$ dark matter model with a light force carrier, including Sommerfeld enhancement and bound-state effects.