We investigate a phenomenological non-gravitational coupling between dark energy and dark matter, where the interaction in the dark sector is parameterized as an energy transfer either from dark matter to dark energy or the opposite. The models are constrained by a whole host of updated cosmological data: cosmic microwave background temperature anisotropies and polarization, high-redshift supernovae, baryon acoustic oscillations, redshift space distortions and gravitational lensing. Both models are found to be compatible with all cosmological observables, but in the case where dark matter decays into dark energy, the tension with the independent determinations of $H_0$ and $σ_8$, already present for standard cosmology, increases: this model in fact predicts lower $H_0$ and higher $σ_8$, mostly as a consequence of the higher amount of dark matter at early times, leading to a stronger clustering during the evolution. Instead, when dark matter is fed by dark energy, the reconstructed values of $H_0$ and $σ_8$ nicely agree with their local determinations, with a full reconciliation between high- and low-redshift observations. A non-zero coupling between dark energy and dark matter, with an energy flow from the former to the latter, appears therefore to be in better agreement with cosmological data.
We update the constraint on the dark matter annihilation cross section by using the recent measurements of the CMB anisotropy by the Planck satellite. We fully calculate the cascade of dark matter annihilation products and their effects on ionization, heating and excitation of the hydrogen, hence do not rely on any assumption on the energy fractions that cause these effects.
Many extensions of Standard Model (SM) include a dark sector which can interact with the SM sector via a light mediator. We explore the possibilities to probe such a dark sector by studying the distortion of the CMB spectrum from the blackbody shape due to the elastic scatterings between the dark matter and baryons through a hidden light mediator. We in particular focus on the model where the dark sector gauge boson kinetically mixes with the SM and present the future experimental prospect for a PIXIE-like experiment along with its comparison to the existing bounds from complementary terrestri…
Mirror dark matter is a dissipative and self-interacting multiparticle dark matter candidate which can explain the DAMA, CoGeNT and CRESST-II direct detection experiments. This explanation requires photon-mirror photon kinetic mixing of strength $ε\sim 10^{-9}$. Mirror dark matter with such kinetic mixing can potentially leave distinctive signatures on the CMB anisotropy spectrum. We show that the most important effect of kinetic mixing on the CMB anisotropies is the suppression of the height of the third and higher odd peaks. If $ε\stackrel{>}{\sim} 10^{-9}$ then this feature can be observed …
The nature of dark matter is one of the major puzzles of fundamental physics, integral to the understanding of our universe across almost every epoch. The search for dark matter takes place at different energy scales, and use data ranging from particle colliders to astrophysical surveys. We focus here on CMB-S4, a future ground-based Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) experiment, which is expected to provide exquisite measurements of the CMB temperature and polarization anisotropies. These measurements (on their own and in combination with other surveys) will allow for new means to shed light o…
We briefly discuss the intriguing case of a phenomenological non-gravitational coupling in the dark sector, where the interaction is parameterized as an energy transfer either from dark matter to dark energy or the opposite. We show that a non-zero coupling with an energy flow from the latter to the former leads to a full reconciliation of the tension between high- and low-redshift observations present in the standard cosmological model.
Dark sectors provide a compelling theoretical framework for thermally producing sub-GeV dark matter, and motivate an expansive new accelerator and direct-detection experimental program. We demonstrate the power of constraining such dark sectors using the measured effective number of neutrino species, $N_\text{eff}$, from the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) and primordial elemental abundances from Big Bang Nucleosynthesis (BBN). As a concrete example, we consider a dark matter particle of arbitrary spin that interacts with the Standard Model via a massive dark photon, accounting for an arbitr…
The cosmic microwave background (CMB) places a variety of model-independent constraints on the strength interactions of the dominant component of dark matter with the Standard Model. Percent-level subcomponents of the dark matter can evade the most stringent CMB bounds by mimicking the behavior of baryons, allowing for larger couplings and novel experimental signatures. However, in this note, we will show that such tightly coupled subcomponents leave a measurable imprint on the CMB that is well approximated by a change to the helium fraction, $Y_{\rm He}$. Using the existing constraint on $Y_{…
We point out two ways to search for low-mass axion dark matter using cosmic microwave background (CMB) polarization measurements. These appear, in particular, to be some of the most promising ways to directly detect fuzzy dark matter. Axion dark matter causes rotation of the polarization of light passing through it. This gives rise to two novel phenomena in the CMB. First, the late-time oscillations of the axion field today cause the CMB polarization to oscillate in phase across the entire sky. Second, the early-time oscillations of the axion field wash out the polarization produced at last-sc…
The precision measurements of the cosmic microwave background power spectrum put a strong constraint on the dark matter annihilation cross section since the electromagnetic energy injection by the dark matter annihilation affects the ionization history of the universe. In this paper, we update our previous simulation code for calculating the ionization history with the effect of dark matter annihilation by including Helium interactions and improving the precision of calculations. We give an updated constraint on the annihilation cross section and mass of dark matter using the modified RECFAST …
Measurements of cosmic microwave background (CMB) anisotropies provide strong evidence for the existence of dark matter and dark energy. They can also test its composition, probing the energy density and particle mass of different dark-matter and dark-energy components. CMB data have already shown that ultra-light axions (ULAs) with mass in the range $10^{-32}~{\rm eV} \to 10^{-26}~{\rm eV}$ compose a fraction $< 0.01$ of the cosmological critical density. Here, the sensitivity of a proposed CMB-Stage IV (CMB-S4) experiment (assuming a 1 arcmin beam and $< 1~μK{\rm-arcmin}$ noise levels over a…
Dark Matter (DM) annihilation and decay during the Dark Ages can affect the cosmic ionization history and leave imprints in the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) anisotropy spectra. CMB polarization anisotropy can be sensitive to such energy injection at higher redshifts and help reducing degeneracy with primordial spectral parameters in $Λ$CDM and astrophysical ionization processes during reionization. In light of a number of upcoming CMB polarization experiments, such as AdvACTPol, AliCPT, CLASS, Simons Observatory, Simons Array, SPT-3G, we estimate their prospective sensitivity in probing d…
In the inhomogeneous Universe, the cosmological conversion of dark photons into ordinary photons (and vice versa) may happen at a great number of resonance redshifts. This alters the CMB observed energy spectrum and degree of small-scale anisotropies. We utilize results from the EAGLE simulation to obtain the conversion probability along random line-of-sights to quantify these effects. We then apply our results to the case where dark photons are sourced by dark matter decay and their high-redshift conversion into ordinary photons modify the global 21 cm signal expected from the cosmic dawn era…
In view of the current interest in combining different observations to constraint annihilating WIMP dark matter, we examine the relation between the Sommerfeld effect at the recombination epoch and in the galactic halo. By considering an up-to-date collection of interpolations of cosmic rays lepton data (AMS-02 2014, Fermi and PAMELA), as dark matter annihilation signals, we show that current cosmic rays measurements and recent Planck 2015 constraints from CMB anisotropies almost overlap for dark matter masses of the order of few $TeV$, although great theoretical uncertainties afflict cosmic r…
We study dark matter-helium scattering in the early Universe and its impact on constraints from cosmic microwave background (CMB) anisotropy measurements. We describe possible theoretical frameworks for dark matter-nucleon interactions via a scalar, pseudoscalar, or vector mediator; such interactions give rise to hydrogen and helium scattering, with cross sections that have a power-law dependence on relative velocity. Within these frameworks, we consider three scenarios: dark matter coupling to only neutrons, to only protons, and to neutrons and protons with equal strength. For these various c…
Mirror dark matter interacting with ordinary matter via photon-mirror photon kinetic mixing can explain the DAMA, CoGeNT and CRESSTII direct detection experiments. This explanation requires kinetic mixing of strength $ε\sim 10^{-9}$. Such kinetic mixing will have important implications for early Universe cosmology. We calculate the additional relativistic energy density at recombination, $δN_{eff} [CMB]$. We also calculate the effects for big bang nucleosynthesis, $δN_{eff} [BBN]$. Current hints that both $δN_{eff} [CMB]$ and $δN_{eff} [BBN]$ are non-zero and positive can be accommodated withi…
Cosmic microwave background (CMB) constraints on dark matter annihilation are a uniquely powerful tool in the quest to understand the nature of dark matter. Annihilation of dark matter to Standard Model particles between recombination and reionization heats baryons, ionizes neutral hydrogen, and alters the CMB visibility function. Surprisingly, CMB bounds on dark matter annihilation are not expected to improve significantly with the dramatic improvements in sensitivity expected in future cosmological surveys. In this paper, we will present a simple physical description of the origin of the CMB…
In this paper, we explore the impact of Dark Matter-photon interactions on the CMB angular power spectrum. Using the one-year data release of the Planck satellite, we derive an upper bound on the Dark Matter-photon elastic scattering cross section of sigma_{DM-photon} < 8 x 10^{-31} (m_DM/GeV) cm^2 (68% CL) if the cross section is constant and a present-day value of sigma_{DM-photon} < 6 x 10^{-40} (m_DM/GeV) cm^2 (68% CL) if it scales as the temperature squared. For such a limiting cross section, both the B-modes and the TT angular power spectrum are suppressed with respect to LCDM prediction…
Axion-like particles are dark matter candidates motivated by the Peccei-Quinn mechanism and also occur in effective field theories where their masses and photon couplings are independent. We estimate the dispersion of circularly polarized photons in a background of oscillating axion-like particles (ALPs) with the standard $g_{aγ}\,a\,F_{μν}\tilde F^{μν}/4$ coupling to photons. This leads to birefringence or rotation of linear polarization by ALP dark matter. Cosmic microwave background (CMB) birefringence limits $Δα\lesssim (1.0)^\circ$ enable us to constrain the axion-photon coupling $g_{aγ} …
The annihilation or decay of Dark Matter (DM) particles could affect the thermal history of the universe and leave an observable signature in Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) anisotropies. We update constraints on the annihilation rate of DM particles in the smooth cosmological background, using WMAP7 and recent small-scale CMB data. With a systematic analysis based on the Press-Schechter formalism, we also show that DM annihilation in halos at small redshift may explain entirely the reionization patterns observed in the CMB, under reasonable assumptions concerning the concentration and forma…
We perform an improved cosmic microwave background (CMB) analysis to search for dark matter-proton scattering with a momentum-transfer cross section of the form $σ_0 v^n$ for $n=-2$ and $n=-4$. In particular, we present a new and robust prescription for incorporating the relative bulk velocity between the dark matter and baryon fluids into the standard linear Boltzmann calculation. Using an iterative procedure, we self-consistently include the effects of the bulk velocities in a cosmology in which dark matter interacts with baryons. With this prescription, we derive CMB bounds on the cross sec…
After numerous astronomical and experimental searches, the precise particle nature of dark matter is still unknown. The standard Weakly Interacting Massive Particle(WIMP) dark matter, despite successfully explaining the large-scale features of the universe, has long-standing small-scale issues. The spectral distortion in the Cosmic Microwave Background(CMB) caused by Silk damping in the pre-recombination era allows one to access information on a range of small scales $0.3 \, {\rm Mpc} < k < 10^4 \, \rm Mpc^{-1}$, whose dynamics can be precisely described using linear theory. In this paper, we …
We show that the impact of energy injection by dark matter annihilation on the cosmic microwave background power spectra can be apprehended via a residual likelihood map. By resorting to convolutional neural networks that can fully discover the underlying pattern of the map, we propose a novel way of constraining dark matter annihilation based on the Planck 2018 data. We demonstrate that the trained neural network can efficiently predict the likelihood and accurately place bounds on the annihilation cross-section in a $\textit{model-independent}$ fashion. The machinery will be made public in t…
The term dark radiation is used both to describe a noninteracting neutrino species and as a correction to the Friedmann Equation in the simplest five-dimensional RS-II brane-world cosmology. In this paper we consider the constraints on both meanings of dark radiation based upon the newest results for light-element nuclear reaction rates, observed light-element abundances and the power spectrum of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB). Adding dark radiation during big bang nucleosynthesis (BBN) alters the Friedmann expansion rate causing the nuclear reactions to freeze out at a different temper…
The majoron provides an attractive dark matter candidate, directly associated to the mechanism responsible for spontaneous neutrino mass generation within the standard model framework. Here we update the cosmological and astrophysical constraints on majoron dark matter which come from the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) and a variety of X- and gamma-ray observations.
Compensated isocurvature perturbations (CIPs) are primordial fluctuations that balance baryon and dark-matter isocurvature to leave the total matter density unperturbed. The effects of CIPs on the cosmic microwave background (CMB) anisotropies are similar to those produced by weak lensing of the CMB: smoothing of the power spectrum, and generation of non-Gaussian features. Previous work considered the CIP effects on the CMB power-spectrum but neglected to include the CIP effects on estimates of the lensing potential power spectrum (though its contribution to the non-Gaussian, connected, part o…
Updated constraints on dark matter cross section and mass are presented combining CMB power spectrum measurements from Planck, WMAP9, ACT, and SPT as well as several low-redshift datasets (BAO, HST, supernovae). For the CMB datasets, we combine WMAP9 temperature and polarization data for l <= 431 with Planck temperature data for 432 < l < 2500, ACT and SPT data for l > 2500, and Planck CMB four-point lensing measurements. We allow for redshift-dependent energy deposition from dark matter annihilation by using a `universal' energy absorption curve. We also include an updated treatment of the ex…
We consider dark matter as singlet fermionic particles which carrying magnetic dipole moment to explore its contribution on the polarization of cosmic microwave background (CMB) photons. We show that Dirac fermionic dark matter has no contribution on the CMB polarization. However, in the case of Majorana dark matter this type of interaction leads to the B-mode polarization in presence of primordial scalar perturbations which is in contrast with standard scenario for the CMB polarization. We numerically calculate the B-mode power spectra and plot $C_l^{BB}$ for different dark matter masses and …
We investigate early dark energy models in the context of the lensing anomaly by considering two different Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) datasets: a complete Planck, and a second one primarily based on SPTPol and Planck temperature ($l<1000$). We contrast the effects of allowing the phenomenological lensing amplitude ($\Al$) to be different from unity. We find that the fraction of early dark energy, while not immediately affected by the lensing anomaly, can induce mild deviations, through correlations with the parameters $H_0$ and $S_8$. {We extend the analysis also by marginalizing the Ne…
Very recently, the LUNA collaboration has reported a new measurement of the $d+p\to {}^{3}\text{He}+γ$ reaction rate, which plays an important role in the prediction of the primordial deuterium abundance at the time of BBN. This new measurement has triggered a new set of global BBN analyses within the context of the Standard Model. In this addendum to JCAP 01 (2020) 004 (arXiv:1910.01649), we consider the implications of these new results for our constraints on MeV-scale dark sectors. Importantly, we find that our bounds in the BBN-only and Planck-only analyses are insensitive to these updates…
From measurements of the cosmic microwave background (CMB), the effective number of neutrino is found to be close to the standard model value Neff = 3.046 for the \LambdaCDM cosmology. One can obtain the same CMB angular power spectrum as that of \LambdaCDM for the different value of Neff by using the different dark energy model (i.e. for the different value of w). This degeneracy between Neff and w in CMB can be broken from future galaxy survey using the matter power spectrum.
The injection of secondary particles produced by Dark Matter (DM) annihilation around redshift 1000 would inevitably affect the process of recombination, leaving an imprint on Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) anisotropies and polarization. We show that the most recent CMB measurements provided by the WMAP satellite mission place interesting constraints on DM self-annihilation rates, especially for models that exhibit a large Sommerfeld enhancement of the annihilation cross-section, as recently proposed to fit the PAMELA and ATIC results. Furthermore, we argue that upcoming CMB experiments suc…
We consider the propagation and energy losses of protons and anti-protons produced by dark matter annihilation at redshifts 100<z<~2000. In the case of dark matter annihilations into quarks, gluons and weak gauge bosons, protons and anti-protons carry about 20% of the energy injected into e^\pm and γ's, but their interactions are normally neglected when deriving cosmic microwave background bounds from altered recombination histories. Here, we follow numerically the energy-loss history of typical protons/antiprotons in the cosmological medium. We show that about half of their energy is channele…
We study the cosmological signatures of Invisibly Annihilating Dark Matter (IAnDM), where DM annihilates into dark radiation particles that are decoupled from the Standard Model (SM). In the simple benchmark model we consider here, such invisible annihilation determines the relic abundance of DM via dark thermal freeze-out. We demonstrate that IAnDM may reveal itself through observable, novel signatures that are correlated: scale-dependent $ΔN_\text{eff}$ (number of extra effective neutrinos) in the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) spectrum due to DM residual annihilation, while the phase of …
Cosmic Microwave Background satellite missions as the on-going Planck experiment are expected to provide the strongest constraints on a wide set of cosmological parameters. Those constraints, however, could be weakened when the assumption of a cosmological constant as the dark energy component is removed. Here we show that it will indeed be the case when there exists a coupling among the dark energy and the dark matter fluids. In particular, the expected errors on key parameters as the cold dark matter density and the angular diameter distance at decoupling are significantly larger when a dark…
We present a method to measure the small-scale matter power spectrum using high-resolution measurements of the gravitational lensing of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB). To determine whether small-scale structure today is suppressed on scales below 10 kiloparsecs (corresponding to M < 10^9 M_sun), one needs to probe CMB-lensing modes out to L ~ 35,000, requiring a CMB experiment with about 20 arcsecond resolution or better. We show that a CMB survey covering 4,000 square degrees of sky, with an instrumental sensitivity of 0.5 uK-arcmin at 18 arcsecond resolution, could distinguish between…
The scattering of cosmic microwave background (CMB) radiation in galaxy clusters induces polarization signals according to the quadrupole anisotropy in the photon distribution at the cluster location. This `remote quadrupole' derived from the measurements of the induced polarization provides an opportunity for reconstructing primordial fluctuations on large scales. We discuss that comparing the local CMB quadrupoles predicted by these reconstructed primordial fluctuations and the direct measurements done by CMB satellites may enable us to test the dark energy beyond cosmic variance limits.
New light states thermally coupled to the Standard Model plasma alter the expansion history of the Universe and impact the synthesis of the primordial light elements. In this work, we carry out an exhaustive and precise analysis of the implications of MeV-scale BSM particles in Big Bang Nucleosynthesis (BBN) and for Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) observations. We find that, BBN observations set a lower bound on the thermal dark matter mass of $m_χ> 0.4\,\text{MeV}$ at $2σ$. This bound is independent of the spin and number of internal degrees of freedom of the particle, of the annihilation b…
We propose a new method to constrain elastic scattering between dark matter (DM) and standard model particles in the early Universe. Direct or indirect thermal coupling of non-relativistic DM with photons leads to a heat sink for the latter. This results in spectral distortions of the cosmic microwave background (CMB), the amplitude of which can be as large as a few times the DM-to-photon number ratio. We compute CMB spectral distortions due to DM-proton, DM-electron and DM-photon scattering for generic energy-dependent cross sections and DM mass m_DM >~ 1 keV. Using FIRAS measurements we set …
If moduli, or other long-lived heavy states, decay in the early universe in part into light and feebly interacting particles (such as axions), these decay products could account for the additional energy density in radiation that is suggested by recent measurements of the CMB. These moduli decays will also, however, alter the expansion history of the early universe, potentially diluting the thermal relic abundance of dark matter. If this is the case, then dark matter particles must annihilate with an even lower cross section than required in the standard thermal scenario (sigma v < 3x10^-26 cm…
CMB Spectral Distortions from Resonant Conversions in Atomic Dark Sectors
C.N. Yang Institute for Theoretical Physics, Stony Brook University（杨振宁理论物理研究所，石溪大学）；Center for Theoretical Physics - A Leinweber Institute, Massachusetts Institute of Technology（麻省理工学院莱因韦伯理论物理中心）；Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research, Massachusetts Institute of Technology（麻省理工学院卡夫利天体物理学与空间研究研究所）
We revisit cosmic microwave background (CMB) constraints on primordial black hole dark matter. Spectral distortion limits from COBE/FIRAS do not impose a relevant constraint. Planck CMB anisotropy power spectra imply that primordial black holes with $m_{BH}\gtrsim 5~M_{\odot}$ are disfavored. However, this is susceptible to sizeable uncertainties due to the treatment of the black hole accretion process. These constraints are weaker than those quoted in earlier literature for the same observables.
We employ the Planck 2013 CMB temperature anisotropy and lensing data, and baryon acoustic oscillation (BAO) data to constrain a phenomenological $w$CDM model, where dark matter and dark energy interact. We assume time-dependent equation of state parameter for dark energy, and treat dark matter and dark energy as fluids whose energy-exchange rate is proportional to the dark-matter density. The CMB data alone leave a strong degeneracy between the interaction rate and the physical CDM density parameter today, $ω_c$, allowing a large interaction rate $|Γ| \sim H_0$. However, as has been known for…
Current constraints on energy injection in the form of energetic particles before the epoch of recombination using CMB spectral distortions assume that all energy goes into $y$ and $μ$-type distortions. We revisit these constraints with exact calculations of the spectral distortions by evolving the electromagnetic cascades. The actual spectral distortion differs in shape and amplitude from the $y$-type distortion and depends on the energy and nature of injected particles. The constraints on the energy injection processes such as dark matter decay can be relaxed by as much as a factor of 5.
We consider a self-interacting dark matter model in which the massive dark photon mediating the self-interaction decays to light dark fermions to avoid over-closing the universe. We find that if the model is constrained to explain the dark matter halos inferred for spiral galaxies and galaxy clusters simultaneously, there is a strong indication that dark matter is produced asymmetrically in the early universe. It also implies the presence of dark radiation, late kinetic decoupling for dark matter, and a suppressed linear power spectrum due to dark acoustic damping. The Lyman-$α$ forest power s…
We consider a dark sector consisting of dark matter that is a Dirac fermion and a scalar mediator. This model has been extensively studied in the past. If the scalar couples to the dark matter in a parity conserving manner then dark matter annihilation to two mediators is dominated by the P-wave channel and hence is suppressed at very low momentum. The indirect detection constraint from the anisotropy of the Cosmic Microwave Background is usually thought to be absent in the model because of this suppression. In this letter we show that dark matter annihilation to bound states occurs through th…
