arXiv subjects

Shigeki Matsumoto

Publications and source records attributed to Shigeki Matsumoto.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Enhanced Rydberg-Atom Superheterodyne Detection of Hidden-Photon Dark Matter on Chips

Although hidden-photon dark matter with masses above $10^{-4}\,\mathrm{eV}$ is well motivated by inflationary production, it remains largely unexplored by terrestrial experiments. Through kinetic mixing, hidden photons induce a weak oscillating electric field above $10\,\mathrm{GHz}$. We propose to amplify this signal using a compact high-frequency distributed cavity and detect it with chip-scale Rydberg-atom superheterodyne spectroscopy. Combining resonant enhancement, large dipole moments of Rydberg atoms, and long-term stable integration, this approach can probe hidden-photon dark matter in the mass range $5 \times 10^{-5}\text{--}7\times 10^{-4}\,\mathrm{eV}$ with sensitivities $3$--$4$ orders of magnitude beyond existing limits.

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arXiv2026

Minimal Majoron Dark Matter from a Discrete $Z_N$ Gauge Symmetry

We investigate majoron dark matter in a minimal setup, where the Standard Model is extended by three right-handed neutrinos and a complex scalar field. The theory is defined by an exact discrete gauge symmetry, $Z_N\subset U(1)_{B-L}$, while the global $U(1)_{B-L}$ symmetry emerges only as an accidental symmetry at low energies. For nontrivial choices of the discrete symmetry $Z_N$, such as $Z_5$, $Z_7$, $Z_{11}$, and $Z_{13}$, Planck-suppressed operators explicitly break this accidental symmetry and generate a small majoron mass, making the resulting pseudo-Nambu--Goldstone boson a well-motivated dark matter candidate. We study its production via the misalignment mechanism after inflation, considering both radiation-dominated and early matter-dominated cosmological histories, and confront the viable parameter space with isocurvature bounds, cosmological constraints, and indirect dark matter searches. We find that the $Z_5$ model is excluded by limits on the dominant dark matter decay into neutrinos, whereas the other models remain viable. In particular, the $Z_7$ scenario predicts a majoron mass in the $1$--$10\,{\rm MeV}$ range and can be sensitively probed by future MeV gamma-ray observations, especially with COSI, through the 511$\,$keV line from the majoron decay into an electron--positron pair and the monochromatic gamma-ray line from its decay into two photons.

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arXiv2026

Refined Sensitivity Estimates for Single-Molecule Magnet Dark Matter Detectors

We revisit the sensitivity of Single Molecule Magnet (SMM) crystals as detectors for low-mass dark matter. In previous work, we established the concept of the ``magnetic bubble chamber'', where energy deposited by dark matter triggers a magnetic avalanche in a metastable crystal. The original sensitivity estimates relied on a conservative criterion requiring the spin relaxation time to be strictly shorter than the thermal diffusion time. Here, we demonstrate that this criterion effectively ignores the stochastic nature of spin relaxation. We derive a refined analytic estimate which accounts for the fraction of spins that relax even when diffusion is fast. We show that the Zeeman energy released by this fraction contributes to local heating, significantly lowering the energy threshold for avalanche formation. We present simulation results confirming this effect and report on experimental verification of the assumed low-temperature thermal properties of two representative SMM crystals, Mn$_{12}$-acetate and Mn$_{32}$. Together, these efforts extend this pathfinder program toward the realization of SMM-based detectors with controlled material properties and enhanced dark matter sensitivity.

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arXiv2026

Proposal for a shared transverse LLP detector for FCC-ee and FCC-hh and a forward LLP detector for FCC-hh

As the particle physics community has explored most of the conventional avenues for new physics, the more elusive areas are becoming increasingly appealing. One such potential region, where new physics might be hiding, involves light and weakly interacting long-lived particles (LLPs). To probe deeper into this region, where the possibility of highly displaced scenarios weakens the role of general-purpose collider detectors, dedicated LLP detectors are our best option. However, their potential can only be fully realized if we optimize their position and dimensions to suit our physics goals. This is possible at the upcoming Future Circular Collider (FCC) facility, where the feasibility and design studies are still ongoing and can accommodate new proposals focused specifically on LLP searches. We propose optimized dedicated detectors in both the transverse and forward directions, DELIGHT and FOREHUNT, significantly enhancing the sensitivity to previously uncharted regions of the new physics parameter space. Our proposed DELIGHT detector can additionally serve as a shared transverse detector during both the FCC-ee and FCC-hh runs. The concept of a shared transverse detector is novel and sustainable, utilizing the same interaction points of the lepton and hadron colliders at the FCC. This minimizes costs and boosts the LLP physics case at the FCC.

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arXiv2026

Torsion Balance Experiments Enable Direct Detection of Sub-eV Dark Matter

Light dark matter with sub-eV masses has a high number density in our galaxy, and its scattering cross section with macroscopic objects can be significantly enhanced by coherence effects. Repeated scattering with a target object can induce a measurable acceleration. Torsion balance experiments with geometric asymmetry are, in principle, capable of detecting such signals. Our analysis shows that existing torsion balances designed to test the Equivalence Principle already place the most stringent constraints on DM-nucleon scattering in the $(10^{-2}, 1)\,$eV mass range.

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arXiv2026

Long-lived Light Mediators in a Higgs Portal Model at the FCC-ee

In the search for beyond the Standard Model (SM) physics, long-lived particles (LLPs) have emerged as potential candidates and are being explored in various ongoing experiments. Future lepton colliders, such as the FCC-ee, shall provide an excellent opportunity to probe LLPs, owing to their clean environment and improved particle identification. This study investigates the potential of the proposed \textbf{I}nnovative \textbf{D}etector for an \textbf{E}lectron-Positron \textbf{A}ccelerator (IDEA) detector at FCC-ee in the detection of LLPs produced from $B$-meson and Higgs boson decays. We explore benchmark scenarios for different final states resulting from LLP decays, including a detailed analysis of the SM long-lived hadronic background. Additionally, we propose dedicated LLP detectors with different configurations, dimensions, and locations with respect to the IDEA detector. DELIGHT B, originally proposed as a dedicated LLP detector for the FCC-hh, stands out as the detector with the maximum efficiency for detecting LLPs produced at FCC-ee. We find that cylindrical detector configurations, if feasible to construct around the IDEA detector, would also enhance sensitivity for LLPs mostly decaying outside it.

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arXiv2026

Light neutrinophilic WIMP in the $U(1)_{\rm B-L+xY}$ model

Sub-GeV dark matter is an appealing thermal target because it can still be produced via the standard freeze-out mechanism; at such low masses, achieving freeze-out naturally points to the presence of a light mediator, which shifts the most promising discovery avenues from the energy frontier to the intensity frontier. Realizing this picture is nonetheless challenging, since CMB observations tightly constrain energy injection from dark-matter annihilation at recombination and therefore strongly disfavor simple $s$-wave annihilation into visible Standard-Model final states. In this work, we propose a concrete neutrinophilic framework for sub-GeV thermal dark matter (''light WIMPs'') based on an additional gauge symmetry $\mathrm{U}(1)_{\mathrm{B}-\mathrm{L}+x\mathrm{Y}}$; for an appropriate choice of $x$, the new gauge boson couples predominantly to dark matter and neutrinos while its couplings to charged leptons are suppressed, so that sub-GeV dark matter annihilates almost exclusively into neutrinos, with hadronic modes kinematically closed. We map the parameter space in which the observed relic abundance is reproduced via standard thermal freeze-out in a conventional cosmological history, and show that sizable regions remain viable after imposing current cosmological, indirect-detection, and terrestrial constraints; in part of the allowed parameter space, the dark matter also exhibits sufficiently large self-interactions to potentially alleviate small-scale structure tensions.

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arXiv2025

Coherence from Randomness: Sub-keV Dark Matter Scattering off Random, Heterogeneous Materials

The sub-keV mass range has long posed a challenge for the direct detection of dark matter via elastic scattering. In this Letter, we propose a new mechanism in which dark matter, assumed to be quadratically coupled to SM particles, scatters from random heterogeneous materials with intrinsic density fluctuations, yielding an enhanced coherent response. This effect can substantially increase the total scattering rate and induce measurable accelerations of the target. Using this idea, we derive new constraints from the MICROSCOPE mission that extend into previously unexplored parameter space for sub-keV dark matter, probing cross sections down to $\sim 4\times10^{-38}\,\mathrm{cm^2}$.

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arXiv2025

Detecting Sterile Neutrino Dark Matter at MeV Gamma-Ray Observatories

We explore the indirect detection of sterile neutrino dark matter within the gauged $U(1)_{B-L}$ extension of the Standard Model, in which three right-handed neutrinos account for neutrino masses, the baryon asymmetry, and dark matter. Focusing on the MeV mass range, we investigate two decay channels: the radiative decay $N \to νγ$, which produces a monochromatic photon, and the three-body decay $N \to e^- e^+ ν$, which leads to a 511 keV photon signal from positronium decay. Taking the upcoming COSI mission as a case study, we show that both signals are experimentally accessible and complementary, with the 511 keV channel extending the sensitivity reach up to $O(100)$ MeV. We propose a novel analysis strategy in Compton data space to isolate the diffuse 511 keV emission. Furthermore, we incorporate, for the first time, the Sommerfeld enhancement in the decay width of $N \to e^- e^+ ν$, enabling more accurate predictions of the signal near the kinematic threshold. The combined observation of both channels would provide a distinctive and testable signature of the sterile neutrino dark matter hypothesis.

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arXiv2025

Indirect Detection of Dark Matter Around a Supermassive Black Hole with High Energy-Resolution Gamma-Ray Telescopes

We explore whether the unprecedented energy resolution of upcoming gamma-ray telescopes can uncover relativistic effects in photon spectra resulting from dark matter (DM) annihilation or decay near the supermassive black hole (SMBH) at the Galactic Center (GC), specifically, gravitational redshift, Doppler broadening due to Lorentz boosts, and kinetic energy enhancements arising from high DM velocities. By modeling DM density and velocity profiles under various SMBH formation scenarios and DM properties, we calculate the corresponding gamma-ray spectra and identify the conditions under which SMBH-induced spectral distortions become observable. We find that, in favorable cases, the observed spectra encode the DM velocity distribution near the SMBH, enabling potential discrimination among annihilation mechanisms with different velocity dependencies. Even when SMBH-induced effects are modest, the upcoming COSI mission, with sub-percent energy resolution surpassing the typical DM velocity dispersion at the GC, $\mathcal{O}(10^{-3})$, may still be able to detect subtle Doppler broadening. These results highlight a promising pathway for determining the origin of gamma-ray signals and probing DM properties through high-resolution spectral measurements.

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arXiv2025

JFlow: Model-Independent Spherical Jeans Analysis using Equivariant Continuous Normalizing Flows

The kinematics of stars in dwarf spheroidal galaxies have been studied to understand the structure of dark matter halos. However, the kinematic information of these stars is often limited to celestial positions and line-of-sight velocities, making full phase space analysis challenging. Conventional methods rely on projected analytic phase space density models with several parameters and infer dark matter halo structures by solving the spherical Jeans equation. In this paper, we introduce an unsupervised machine learning method for solving the spherical Jeans equation in a model-independent way as a first step toward model-independent analysis of dwarf spheroidal galaxies. Using equivariant continuous normalizing flows, we demonstrate that spherically symmetric stellar phase space densities and velocity dispersions can be estimated without model assumptions. As a proof of concept, we apply our method to Gaia challenge datasets for spherical models and measure dark matter mass densities for given velocity anisotropy profiles. Our method can identify halo structures accurately, even with a small number of tracer stars.

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arXiv2025

Detecting meV-Scale Dark Matter via Coherent Scattering with an Asymmetric Torsion Balance

Dark matter with mass in the crossover range between wave dark matter and particle dark matter, around $(10^{-3},\, 10^3)\,$eV, remains relatively unexplored by terrestrial experiments. In this mass regime, dark matter scatters coherently with macroscopic objects. The effect of the coherent scattering greatly enhances the accelerations of the targets that the dark matter collisions cause by a factor of $\sim 10^{23}$. We propose a novel torsion balance experiment with test bodies of different geometric sizes to detect such dark matter-induced acceleration. This method provides the strongest constraints on the scattering cross-section between the dark matter and a nucleon in the mass range $(10^{-3}, 1)\,$eV.

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arXiv2025

Light WIMPs and MeV Gamma-ray Detection with COSI

Light weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs), whose masses are in the sub-GeV scale, have been attracting more attention due to the negative results searching for traditional WIMPs. The light WIMPs are expected to produce gamma rays from annihilation in the MeV energy region. Advancements in technology have opened up possibilities to precisely detect MeV gamma rays, leading to the upcoming space-based mission of the Compton Spectrometer and Imager (COSI). We comprehensively and quantitatively study the phenomenology of light WIMPs to determine if the COSI observations will probe their viable model parameter regions. We first construct models to describe light WIMPs based on the minimality and renormalizability of quantum field theory. Next, we impose various constraints on the models obtained from cosmological observations (CMB, BBN) and dark matter searches (accelerator, underground, astrophysical experiments, etc.). Finally, we identify viable parameter regions in each model and discuss whether or not COSI will be sensitive to the parameter regions. We find that a velocity-dependent annihilation cross-section is predicted in some regions, enabling COSI to detect the dark matter signal while avoiding severe constraints from cosmological observations.

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arXiv2025

Enhancing Compton telescope imaging with maximum a posteriori estimation: a modified Richardson-Lucy algorithm for the Compton Spectrometer and Imager

We present a modified Richardson-Lucy (RL) algorithm tailored for image reconstruction in MeV gamma-ray observations, focusing on its application to the upcoming Compton Spectrometer and Imager (COSI) mission. Our method addresses key challenges in MeV gamma-ray astronomy by incorporating Bayesian priors for sparseness and smoothness while optimizing background components simultaneously. We introduce a novel sparsity term suitable for Poisson-sampled data in addition to a smoothness prior, allowing for flexible reconstruction of both point sources and extended emission. The performance of the algorithm is evaluated using simulated three-month COSI observations of gamma-ray lines of $^{44}$Ti (1.157 MeV), $^{26}$Al (1.809 MeV), and positron annihilation (0.511 MeV), respectively, representing various spatial features. Our results demonstrate significant improvements over conventional RL methods, particularly in suppressing artificial structures in point source reconstructions and retaining diffuse spatial structures. This work represents an important step towards establishing a robust data analysis for studying nucleosynthesis, positron annihilation, and other high-energy phenomena in our Galaxy.

astro-ph.IM↗

arXiv2025

Mediator Decay through mixing with Degenerate Spectrum

The decay of the mediator particle into standard model (SM) particles plays a significant role in exploring the dark sector scenario. We consider such a decay, taking the dark photon mediator as an example that mixes with the SM photon. We find that it requires a careful analysis of the decay rate in the presence of an SM vector boson (e.g., $Z$ boson, $ρ$ meson, and true muonium, etc.) nearly degenerate with the mediator particle in mass. The decay rate of the mediator particle calculated in the mass eigenstate basis {\bf does not} agree with the correct result, given by the imaginary parts of the poles for the vector boson propagators, when the mixing parameter is smaller than a specific value. In such a case, the decay rate calculated by treating the mixing as a perturbative parameter is in agreement with the correct result. We clarify specific values for the mixing parameter quantitatively using several concrete examples of the SM vector bosons degenerate with the dark photon. When the mass mixing between the vector boson and dark photon is smaller (larger) than the decay width of the vector boson, the latter (former) method to calculate the decay rate of the mediator particle gives the correct result.

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arXiv2024

Light long-lived particles at the FCC-hh with the proposal for a dedicated forward detector FOREHUNT and a transverse detector DELIGHT

In this paper, we propose a dedicated forward detector, FOREHUNT (FORward~Experiment~for~HUNdred~TeV), for 100 TeV FCC-hh for the detection of light long-lived particles (LLP) coming from $B$-meson decay. We calculate the signal acceptance as a function of mass and proper decay length of the LLP for 100 TeV and interpret our result in terms of model parameters for models of dark Higgs scalar and heavy neutral leptons. We also compare the sensitivity with proposed transverse detectors like MATHUSLA, CODEX-b for HL-LHC, and DELIGHT (Detector for long-lived particles at high energy of 100 TeV) for FCC-hh. Our analysis reveals that if the LLP is light ($\lesssim 4.4$ GeV) and has a low proper decay length ($<10$ m), a forward detector like FOREHUNT is the best option to look for the decaying LLP, while DELIGHT is preferable for higher proper decay lengths.

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arXiv2024

Féeton dark matter above the $e^-e^+$ threshold

The new gauge boson introduced in the minimal extension of the standard model (SM) by gauging the U(1)$_{\rm B-L}$ symmetry plays the role of dark matter when the U(1)$_{\rm B-L}$ gauge coupling is highly suppressed. This dark matter, named the Féeton dark matter is known to be efficiently created in the early universe by inflationary fluctuations with minimal gravity coupling, hence the framework, the gauged U(1)$_{\rm B-L}$ extended SM + inflation, solves the four major problems of the SM; neutrino masses/mixings, dark matter, baryon asymmetry of the universe, and the initial condition of the universe (inflation). We comprehensively study the phenomenology of the dark matter when it is heavier than the $e^- e^+$ threshold, namely twice the electron mass, considering the threshold effect on the dark matter decay into $e^- e^+$. The viable parameter region is found only in the threshold region, while the branching fraction of the decay into $e^- e^+$ (i.e., the $e^- e^+$ signal) never vanishes even at the threshold due to the effect. As a result, the pure U(1)$_{\rm B-L}$ extension without the kinetic mixing between the U(1)$_{\rm B-L}$ and hyper-charge gauge bosons have already been excluded by the present observation of the 511\,keV photon from the galactic center. So, the Féeton dark matter requires a non-zero kinetic mixing to be a viable dark matter candidate and will be efficiently explored by future MeV-gamma ray telescopes thanks to the non-vanishing decay process into $e^- e^+$.

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arXiv2024

Light Thermal Dark Matter Beyond $p$-Wave Annihilation in Minimal Higgs Portal Model

This study explores a minimal renormalizable dark matter (DM) model, incorporating a sub-GeV Majorana DM and a singlet scalar particle $ϕ$. Using scalar and pseudo-scalar interactions (couplings $c_s$ and $c_p$), we investigate implications for DM detection, considering $s$-wave, $p$-wave, and combined ($s$+$p$ wave) contributions in DM annihilation cross-section, as well as loop-correction contributions to DM-nucleon elastic scattering. Identifying a broad parameter space ($10 \,\rm{MeV} < m_χ\lesssim m_ϕ$) within the $2σ$ allowed region, we explore scenarios ($\left|c_s\right|\gg \left|c_p\right|$, $\left|c_s\right|\ll \left|c_p\right|$, and $\left|c_s\right|\approx \left|c_p\right|$). We find that (i) a non-zero pseudo-scalar coupling alleviates direct detection constraints as a comparison with the previous pure scalar coupling case; (ii) CMB observations set stringent limits on pseudo-scalar interaction dominant cases, making $s$-wave annihilation viable only for $m_χ>1\,\rm{GeV}$; (iii) the preferred $ϕ$-resonance region can be tested in the future indirect detection experiments, such as e-ASTROGAM.

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