发表机构
Universidad Autónoma de Madrid; Instituto de Física Teórica UAM-CSIC（马德里自治大学; UAM-CSIC理论物理研究所）
机构由 AI 辅助整理，请以论文原文为准。AI 中文总结
该研究利用分子云电离探测亚GeV暗物质与小行星质量原初黑洞，推导了MeV尺度暗物质和特定质量原初黑洞的约束，指出带电粒子传输不确定性是主要限制，确立分子云电离为互补探测手段。
AI 中文摘要
我们表明，分子云的电离为探测通过湮灭、衰变或原初黑洞的霍金蒸发产生低能$e^+e^-$对的暗物质场景提供了一种新手段。我们推导了质量在~1到100 MeV之间的MeV尺度暗物质，以及质量范围为$10^{14}$--$10^{17}$g的原初黑洞的约束。通过模拟分子云内部电子和正电子的传播，我们发现带电粒子传输的不确定性是该方法的主要限制。不过，对于最符合物理直觉的传播场景，所得约束仍与当前最强的可用界限具有竞争力。我们还确定了能最大化对暗物质诱导电离灵敏度的分子云性质，并讨论了更大的分子云样本，结合宇宙射线电离和云结构的改进建模，如何能大幅提升该技术的探测范围。我们的结果确立了分子云电离作为亚GeV暗物质和蒸发原初黑洞的一种有前景且互补的探测手段。
英文摘要
We show that the ionization of molecular and atomic clouds provides a novel probe of dark matter scenarios producing low-energy $e^+e^-$ pairs through annihilation, decay, or Hawking evaporation of primordial black holes. We derive constraints on MeV-scale dark matter with masses between $\sim1$ and $100$ MeV, as well as on primordial black holes in the mass range $10^{14}$--$3\times10^{17}$g. By modeling the propagation of electrons and positrons inside these clouds, we show that uncertainties in charged-particle transport constitute the main limitation of this method. Nevertheless, for the most physically motivated propagation scenarios, the resulting constraints remain competitive with the strongest bounds currently available. We also identify the cloud properties that maximize the sensitivity to dark matter-induced ionization and discuss how larger samples of clouds, together with improved modeling of cosmic-ray ionization and cloud structure, could substantially enhance the reach of this technique. Our results establish molecular and atomic cloud ionization as a promising and complementary probe of sub-GeV dark matter and evaporating primordial black holes.
Comments20 pages, 14 figures
