BBN constraints on universally-coupled ultralight scalar dark matter

Article
Report number	arXiv:2006.04820 ; DESY-19-234 ; CERN-TH-2020-091 ; INR-TH-2020-001
Title	BBN constraints on universally-coupled ultralight scalar dark matter
Author(s)	Sibiryakov, Sergey (EPFL, Lausanne, LPTP ; CERN ; Moscow, INR) ; Sørensen, Philip (DESY ; Hamburg U., Inst. Theor. Phys. II) ; Yu, Tien-Tien (Oregon U.)
Publication	2020
Imprint	2020-06-08
Number of pages	34
Note	23 pages + appendices and bibliography, 6 figures, v2: typos corrected, expanded discussion around eq. 4.5, published version
In:	JHEP 2012 (2020) 075
DOI	10.1007/JHEP12(2020)075
Subject category	astro-ph.CO ; Astrophysics and Astronomy ; hep-ph ; Particle Physics - Phenomenology
Abstract	Ultralight scalar dark matter can interact with all massive Standard Model particles through a universal coupling. Such a coupling modifies the Standard Model particle masses and affects the dynamics of Big Bang Nucleosynthesis. We model the cosmological evolution of the dark matter, taking into account the modifications of the scalar mass by the environment as well as the full dynamics of Big Bang Nucleosynthesis. We find that precision measurements of the helium-4 abundance set stringent constraints on the available parameter space, and that these constraints are strongly affected by both the dark matter environmental mass and the dynamics of the neutron freeze-out. Furthermore, we perform the analysis in both the Einstein and Jordan frames, the latter of which allows us to implement the model into numerical Big Bang Nucleosynthesis codes and analyze additional light elements. The numerical analysis shows that the constraint from helium-4 dominates over deuterium, and that the effect on lithium is insufficient to solve the lithium problem. Comparing to several other probes, we find that Big Bang Nucleosynthesis sets the strongest constraints for the majority of the parameter space.
Copyright/License	publication: © The Authors (License: CC-BY-4.0), sponsored by SCOAP³ preprint: (License: CC-BY-4.0)

$\small \textbf{Left:} The evolution of $ \Theta_{\rm SM} $ as a function of scale factor (solid line). The contribution of non-relativistic baryons $ \Theta_b \propto a^{-3} $ is displayed by the dashed line for reference. Notice the large contribution from the $e^+e^-$ plasma. For reference, we also show the total energy density $\rho_{\rm SM}$ (dotted line). Vertical lines mark the values of the scale factor corresponding to freeze-out of weak interactions ($a_{\rm W}$), the time when electrons become non-relativistic ($a_{e}$) and BBN ($a_{\rm BBN}$). \textbf{Right:} Map of the transition history of DM evolution for various points in parameter space. Each region is labeled with the regimes the field $\phi$ passes from the weak freeze-out to the present time. Example: $I\to H\to B$ refers to an evolution that starts out dominated by the induced mass, then transitions to being dominated by Hubble friction and finally by the bare mass, $m_\phi$. The gray-shaded region on the bottom left is excluded by the condition eq.~\ref{constr1}.$ $\small \textbf{Left:} The evolution of $ \Theta_{\rm SM} $ as a function of scale factor (solid line). The contribution of non-relativistic baryons $ \Theta_b \propto a^{-3} $ is displayed by the dashed line for reference. Notice the large contribution from the $e^+e^-$ plasma. For reference, we also show the total energy density $\rho_{\rm SM}$ (dotted line). Vertical lines mark the values of the scale factor corresponding to freeze-out of weak interactions ($a_{\rm W}$), the time when electrons become non-relativistic ($a_{e}$) and BBN ($a_{\rm BBN}$). \textbf{Right:} Map of the transition history of DM evolution for various points in parameter space. Each region is labeled with the regimes the field $\phi$ passes from the weak freeze-out to the present time. Example: $I\to H\to B$ refers to an evolution that starts out dominated by the induced mass, then transitions to being dominated by Hubble friction and finally by the bare mass, $m_\phi$. The gray-shaded region on the bottom left is excluded by the condition eq.~\ref{constr1}.$ $\small {\bf Left:} Evolution of $\phi^2/\Lambda^2$ as a function of scale factor $a$ for the negative coupling and parameters $m_\phi=10^{-17}$ eV, $\Lambda=10^{17.3}$ GeV. The red-dashed curve shows the full numeric solution whereas the solid red curve shows the effective solution which patches together the oscillations with an exponential growth. {\bf Right:} Evolution of $ \phi^2/\Lambda^2$ as a function of scale factor $a$ for positive coupling and parameters $m_\phi=10^{-20}$ eV, $\Lambda=10^{17}$ GeV. The red-dashed curve shows the full numeric solution whereas the red solid curve gives the effective solution which patches together the slowly oscillating/frozen phase with a WKB-type solution in the intermediate regime. The pure WKB amplitude, neglecting Hubble friction, is shown in orange. The green curve shows the evolution of the $\phi$-field neglecting the induced mass.$ Show more plots

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