arXiv subjects

Hai-Bo Yu

Publications and source records attributed to Hai-Bo Yu.

At least 91 records · Page 5Linked to original sources

arXiv2015

Dark Matter Halos as Particle Colliders: A Unified Solution to Small-Scale Structure Puzzles from Dwarfs to Clusters

Astrophysical observations spanning dwarf galaxies to galaxy clusters indicate that dark matter (DM) halos are less dense in their central regions compared to expectations from collisionless DM N-body simulations. Using detailed fits to DM halos of galaxies and clusters, we show that self-interacting DM (SIDM) may provide a consistent solution to the DM deficit problem across all scales, even though individual systems exhibit a wide diversity in halo properties. Since the characteristic velocity of DM particles varies across these systems, we are able to measure the self-interaction cross section as a function of kinetic energy and thereby deduce the SIDM particle physics model parameters. Our results prefer a mildly velocity-dependent cross section, from $σ/m \simeq 2\; {\rm cm^2/g}$ on galaxy scales to $σ/m \simeq 0.1\; {\rm cm^2/g}$ on cluster scales, consistent with the upper limits from merging clusters. Our results dramatically improve the constraints on SIDM models and may allow the masses of both DM and dark mediator particles to be measured even if the dark sector is completely hidden from the Standard Model, which we illustrate for the dark photon model.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2015

Coherent Propagation of PeV Neutrinos and the Dip in the Neutrino Spectrum at IceCube

The energy spectrum of high-energy neutrinos reported by the IceCube collaboration shows a dip between 400 TeV and 1 PeV. One intriguing explanation is that high-energy neutrinos scatter with the cosmic neutrino background through a $\sim$ MeV mediator. Taking the density matrix approach, we develop a formalism to study the propagation of PeV neutrinos in the presence of the new neutrino interaction. If the interaction is flavored such as the gauged $L_μ-L_τ$ model we consider, the resonant collision may not suppress the PeV neutrino flux completely. The new force mediator may also contribute to the number of effectively massless degrees of freedom in the early universe and change the diffusion time of neutrinos from the supernova core. Astrophysical observations such as Big Bang Nucleosynthesis and supernova cooling provide an interesting test for the explanation.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2015

Galactic Center Excess in Gamma Rays from Annihilation of Self-Interacting Dark Matter

Observations by the Fermi-LAT telescope have uncovered a significant $γ$-ray excess toward the Milky Way Galactic Center. There has been no detection of a similar signal in the direction of the Milky Way dwarf spheroidal galaxies. Additionally, astronomical observations indicate that dwarf galaxies and other faint galaxies are less dense than predicted by the simplest cold dark matter models. We show that a self-interacting dark matter model with a particle mass of roughly 50 GeV annihilating to the mediator responsible for the strong self-interaction can simultaneously explain all three observations. The mediator is necessarily unstable and its mass must be below about 100 MeV in order to lower densities in faint galaxies. If the mediator decays to electron-positron pairs with a cross section on the order of the thermal relic value, then we find that these pairs can up-scatter the interstellar radiation field and produce the observed $γ$-ray excess. We show that this model is compatible with all current constraints and highlight detectable signatures unique to self-interacting dark matter models.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2014

Tying Dark Matter to Baryons with Self-interactions

Self-interacting dark matter (SIDM) models have been proposed to solve the small-scale issues with the collisionless cold dark matter (CDM) paradigm. We derive equilibrium solutions in these SIDM models for the dark matter halo density profile including the gravitational potential of both baryons and dark matter. Self-interactions drive dark matter to be isothermal and this ties the core sizes and shapes of dark matter halos to the spatial distribution of the stars, a radical departure from previous expectations and from CDM predictions. Compared to predictions of SIDM-only simulations, the core sizes are smaller and the core densities are higher, with the largest effects in baryon-dominated galaxies. As an example, we find a core size around 0.5 kpc for dark matter in the Milky Way, more than an order of magnitude smaller than the core size from SIDM-only simulations, which has important implications for indirect searches of SIDM candidates.

astro-ph.CO↗

arXiv2013

Dark Matter in the Coming Decade: Complementary Paths to Discovery and Beyond

In this Report we discuss the four complementary searches for the identity of dark matter: direct detection experiments that look for dark matter interacting in the lab, indirect detection experiments that connect lab signals to dark matter in our own and other galaxies, collider experiments that elucidate the particle properties of dark matter, and astrophysical probes sensitive to non-gravitational interactions of dark matter. The complementarity among the different dark matter searches is discussed qualitatively and illustrated quantitatively in several theoretical scenarios. Our primary conclusion is that the diversity of possible dark matter candidates requires a balanced program based on all four of those approaches.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2013

Direct Detection Portals for Self-interacting Dark Matter

Dark matter self-interactions can affect the small scale structure of the Universe, reducing the central densities of dwarfs and low surface brightness galaxies in accord with observations. From a particle physics point of view, this points toward the existence of a 1-100 MeV particle in the dark sector that mediates self-interactions. Since mediator particles will generically couple to the Standard Model, direct detection experiments provide sensitive probes of self-interacting dark matter. We consider three minimal mechanisms for coupling the dark and visible sectors: photon kinetic mixing, Z boson mass mixing, and the Higgs portal. Self-interacting dark matter motivates a new benchmark paradigm for direct detection via momentum-dependent interactions, and ton-scale experiments will cover astrophysically motivated parameter regimes that are unconstrained by current limits. Direct detection is a complementary avenue to constrain velocity-dependent self-interactions that evade astrophysical bounds from larger scales, such as those from the Bullet Cluster.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2013

Self-interacting Dark Matter Benchmarks

Dark matter self-interactions have important implications for the distributions of dark matter in the Universe, from dwarf galaxies to galaxy clusters. We present benchmark models that illustrate characteristic features of dark matter that is self-interacting through a new light mediator. These models have self-interactions large enough to change dark matter densities in the centers of galaxies in accord with observations, while remaining compatible with large-scale structure data and all astrophysical observations such as halo shapes and the Bullet Cluster. These observations favor a mediator mass in the 10 - 100 MeV range and large regions of this parameter space are accessible to direct detection experiments like LUX, SuperCDMS, and XENON1T.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2013

Beyond Collisionless Dark Matter: Particle Physics Dynamics for Dark Matter Halo Structure

Dark matter (DM) self-interactions have important implications for the formation and evolution of structure, from dwarf galaxies to clusters of galaxies. We study the dynamics of self-interacting DM via a light mediator, focusing on the quantum resonant regime where the scattering cross section has a non-trivial velocity dependence. While there are long-standing indications that observations of small scale structure in the Universe are not in accord with the predictions of collisionless DM, theoretical study and simulations of DM self-interactions have focused on parameter regimes with simple analytic solutions for the scattering cross section, with constant or classical velocity (and no angular) dependence. We devise a method that allows us to explore the velocity and angular dependence of self-scattering more broadly, in the strongly-coupled resonant and classical regimes where many partial modes are necessary for the achieving the result. We map out the entire parameter space of DM self-interactions --- and implications for structure observations --- as a function of the coupling and the DM and mediator masses. We derive a new analytic formula for describing resonant s-wave scattering. Finally, we show that DM self-interactions can be correlated with observations of Sommerfeld enhancements in DM annihilation through indirect detection experiments.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2012

On Symmetric and Asymmetric Light Dark Matter

We examine cosmological, astrophysical and collider constraints on thermal dark matter (DM) with mass mX in the range 1 MeV to 10 GeV. Cosmic microwave background (CMB) observations, which severely constrain light symmetric DM, can be evaded if the DM relic density is sufficiently asymmetric. CMB constraints require the present anti-DM to DM ratio to be less than 2*10^{-6} (10^{-1}) for DM mass mX = 1 MeV (10 GeV) with ionizing efficiency factor f ~ 1. We determine the minimum annihilation cross section for achieving these asymmetries subject to the relic density constraint; these cross sections are larger than the usual thermal annihilation cross section. On account of collider constraints, such annihilation cross sections can only be obtained by invoking light mediators. These light mediators can give rise to significant DM self-interactions, and we derive a lower bound on the mediator mass from elliptical DM halo shape constraints. We find that halo shapes require a mediator with mass mphi > 4 * 10^{-2} MeV (40 MeV) for mX = 1 MeV (10 GeV). We map all of these constraints to the parameter space of DM-electron and DM-nucleon scattering cross sections for direct detection. For DM-electron scattering, a significant fraction of the parameter space is already ruled out by beam-dump and supernova cooling constraints.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2012

Resonant Dark Forces and Small Scale Structure

A dark force can impact the cosmological history of dark matter (DM), both explaining observed cores in dwarf galaxies and setting the DM relic density through annihilation to dark force bosons. For GeV - TeV DM mass, DM self-scattering in dwarf galaxy halos exhibits quantum mechanical resonances, analogous to a Sommerfeld enhancement for annihilation. We show that a simple model of DM with a dark force can accommodate all astrophysical bounds on self-interactions in halos and explain the observed relic density, through a single coupling constant.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2012

Three Exceptions for Thermal Dark Matter with Enhanced Annihilation to Gamma Gamma

Recently, there have been hints for dark matter (DM) annihilation in the galactic center to one or more photon lines. In order to achieve the observed photon line flux, DM must have a relatively large effective coupling to photons, typically generated radiatively from large couplings to charged particles. When kinematically accessible, direct annihilation of DM to these charged particles is far too large to accommodate both the DM relic density and constraints from the observed flux of continuum photons from the galactic center, halo and dwarf galaxies. We discuss three exceptions to these obstacles, generating the observed line signal while providing the correct relic density and evading photon continuum constraints. The exceptions are (i) coannihilation, where the DM density is set by interactions with a heavier state that is not populated today, (ii) forbidden channels, where DM annihilates to heavier states that are kinematically blocked today, but open in the early Universe, and (iii) asymmetric DM, where the relic density is set by a primordial asymmetry. We build simple models to realize these scenarios.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2012

Confluence of Constraints in Gauge Mediation: The 125 GeV Higgs Boson and Goldilocks Cosmology

Recent indications of a 125 GeV Higgs boson are challenging for gauge-mediated supersymmetry breaking (GMSB), since radiative contributions to the Higgs boson mass are not enhanced by significant stop mixing. This challenge should not be considered in isolation, however, as GMSB also generically suffers from two other problems: unsuppressed electric dipole moments and the absence of an attractive dark matter candidate. We show that all of these problems may be simultaneously solved by considering heavy superpartners, without extra fields or modified cosmology. Multi-TeV sfermions suppress the EDMs and raise the Higgs mass, and the dark matter problem is solved by Goldilocks cosmology, in which TeV neutralinos decay to GeV gravitinos that are simultaneously light enough to solve the flavor problem and heavy enough to be all of dark matter. The implications for collider searches and direct and indirect dark matter detection are sobering, but EDMs are expected near their current bounds, and the resulting non-thermal gravitino dark matter is necessarily warm, with testable cosmological implications.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2012

The Dark Matter Inverse Problem: Extracting Particle Physics from Scattering Events

The primary observable in dark matter direct detection is the spectrum of scattering events. We simulate multiple positive direct detection signals (on germanium, xenon, and argon targets) to explore the extent to which the underlying particle physics, manifested in the momentum dependence of the operator mediating the scattering, can be extracted. Taking into account realization (Poisson) noise, a single target nucleus with 300 events has limited power to discriminate operators with momentum dependence differing by q^\pm2 for a wide range of dark matter masses from 10 GeV to 1 TeV. With the inclusion of multiple targets (or a factor of several more events on a single target), the discrimination of operators with different momentum dependence becomes very strong at the 95% C.L. for dark matter candidates of mass 50 GeV and above. On the other hand, operator discrimination remains poor for 10 GeV candidates until multiple experiments each collect 1000 or more events.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2012

Oscillating Asymmetric Dark Matter

We study the dynamics of dark matter (DM) particle-antiparticle oscillations within the context of asymmetric DM. Oscillations arise due to small DM number-violating Majorana-type mass terms, and can lead to recoupling of annihilation after freeze-out and washout of the DM density. We derive the density matrix equations for DM oscillations and freeze-out from first principles using nonequilibrium field theory, and our results are qualitatively different than in previous studies. DM dynamics exhibits particle-vs-antiparticle "flavor" effects, depending on the interaction type, analogous to neutrino oscillations in a medium. "Flavor-sensitive" DM interactions include scattering or annihilation through a new vector boson, while "flavor-blind" interactions include scattering or s-channel annihilation through a new scalar boson, or annihilation to pairs of bosons. In particular, we find that flavor-sensitive annihilation does not recouple when coherent oscillations begin, and that flavor-blind scattering does not lead to decoherence.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2012

Constraints on Scalar Asymmetric Dark Matter from Black Hole Formation in Neutron Stars

We consider possibly observable effects of asymmetric dark matter (ADM) in neutron stars. Since dark matter does not self-annihilate in the ADM scenario, dark matter accumulates in neutron stars, eventually reaching the Chandrasekhar limit and forming a black hole. We focus on the case of scalar ADM, where the constraints from Bose-Einstein condensation and subsequent black hole formation are most severe due to the absence of Fermi degeneracy pressure. We also note that in some portions of this constrained parameter space, non-trivial effects from Hawking radiation can modify our limits. We find that for scalar ADM with mass between 100 keV and 10^5 GeV, the constraint from pulsars in globular clusters on the scattering cross-section with neutrons ranges from σ_n < 10^{-45} cm^2 to 10^{-52} cm}^2. In particular, for scalar ADM with mass between 1 GeV and 1 TeV (in the case where black hole evaporation due to Hawking radiation is unimportant), the constraint on the scattering cross-section is below what is reachable with ton scale direct detection experiments.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2011

The Baryon-Dark Matter Ratio Via Moduli Decay After Affleck-Dine Baryogenesis

Low-scale supersymmetry breaking in string motivated theories implies the presence of O(100) TeV scale moduli, which generically lead to a significant modification of the history of the universe prior to Big Bang Nucleosynthesis. Such an approach implies a non-thermal origin for dark matter resulting from scalar decay, where the lightest supersymmetric particle can account for the observed dark matter relic density. We study the further effect of the decay on the baryon asymmetry of the universe, and find that this can satisfactorily address the problem of the over-production of the baryon asymmetry by the Affleck-Dine mechanism in the MSSM. Remarkably, there is a natural connection between the baryon and dark matter abundances today, which leads to a solution of the `Cosmic Coincidence Problem'.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2011

Constraints on Dark Matter from Colliders

We show that colliders can impose strong constraints on models of dark matter, in particular when the dark matter is light. We analyze models where the dark matter is a fermion or scalar interacting with quarks and/or gluons through an effective theory containing higher dimensional operators which represent heavier states that have been integrated out of the effective field theory. We determine bounds from existing Tevatron searches for monojets as well as expected LHC reaches for a discovery. We find that colliders can provide information which is complementary or in some cases even superior to experiments searching for direct detection of dark matter through its scattering with nuclei. In particular, both the Tevatron and the LHC can outperform spin dependent searches by an order of magnitude or better over much of parameter space, and if the dark matter couples mainly to gluons, the LHC can place bounds superior to any spin independent search.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2010

Gamma Ray Line Constraints on Effective Theories of Dark Matter

A monochromatic gamma ray line results when dark matter particles in the galactic halo annihilate to produce a two body final state which includes a photon. Such a signal is very distinctive from astrophysical backgrounds, and thus represents an incisive probe of theories of dark matter. We compare the recent null results of searches for gamma ray lines in the galactic center and other regions of the sky with the predictions of effective theories describing the interactions of dark matter particles with the Standard Model. We find that the null results of these searches provide constraints on the nature of dark matter interactions with ordinary matter which are complementary to constraints from other observables, and stronger than collider constraints in some cases.

hep-ph↗