Double-Disk Dark Matter

By JiJi Fan, Andrey Katz, Lisa Randall, M. Reece. 2013

265 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Abstract Based on observational tests of large scale structure and constraints on halo structure, dark matter is generally taken to be cold and essentially collisionless. On the other hand, given the large number of particles and forces in the visible world, a more complex dark sector could be a reasonable or even likely possibility. This hypothesis leads to testable consequences, perhaps portending the discovery of a rich hidden world neighboring our own. We consider a scenario that readily satisfies current bounds that we call Partially Interacting Dark Matter (PIDM). This scenario contains self-interacting dark matter, but it is not the dominant component. Even if PIDM contains only a fraction of the net dark matter density, comparable to the baryonic fraction, the subdominant component’s interactions can lead to interesting and potentially observable consequences. Our primary focus will be the special case of Double-Disk Dark Matter (DDDM), in which self-interactions allow the dark matter to lose enough energy to lead to dynamics similar to those in the baryonic sector. We explore a simple model in which DDDM can cool efficiently and form a disk within galaxies, and we evaluate some of the possible observational signatures. The most prominent signal of such a scenario could be an enhanced indirect detection signature with a distinctive spatial distribution. Even though subdominant, the enhanced density at the center of the galaxy and possibly throughout the plane of the galaxy (depending on precise alignment) can lead to large boost factors, and could even explain a signature as large as the 130 GeV Fermi line. Such scenarios also predict additional dark radiation degrees of freedom that could soon be detectable and would influence the interpretation of future data, such as that from Planck and from the Gaia satellite. We consider this to be the first step toward exploring a rich array of new possibilities for dark matter dynamics.

Subfields: Astronomy and Astrophysics, Nuclear and High Energy Physics

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/cb01a234838ac4b428938c76444d348f99c5d150

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Citations in the corpus

Interacting dark sector and precision cosmology (2017, background): “Such IDM self-interactions might responsible for the small scale discrepancies observed in dark matter halos or they could give rise to interesting DM halo substructures such as a DM disk if they allow dissipation through IDM scattering with associated DR emission (see for example [61]).”
An Introduction to Particle Dark Matter (2019, background): “It is worth also to mention scenarios of Partially Interacting DM, where only a subdominant component of the total DM contribution is self-interacting [10,11].”
New physics in light of the H0 tension: An alternative view (2019, unknown): “[248–266] for examples of such models.”
On the estimation of the local dark matter density using the rotation curve of the Milky Way (2019, background): “If the overdensity found in local studies is not a feature of disequilibrium, it could be argued that the excess is produced by a dark matter disk (motivated by beyond the Standard Model physics, [42–44]), while another possible explanation considers that it is made of baryonic gas [37].”
Self-Interacting Dark Matter from a Non-Abelian Hidden Sector (2014, background): “These mixed scenarios are strongly interacting analogues of atomic dark matter [103–107] and inspire further simulation of the galactic dynamics in cases where there are two components of dark matter with naturally very different mass scales and different selfinteraction rates.”
Mining for Dark Matter Substructure: Inferring Subhalo Population Properties from Strong Lenses with Machine Learning (2019, background): “…et al. 2018; Vogelsberger et al. 2019; Kahlhoefer et al. 2019; Nishikawa et al. 2019; Robles et al. 2019) and dissipative dynamics in the dark sector (Fan et al. 2013; Agrawal et al. 2017; Agrawal & Randall 2017; Buckley & DiFranzo 2018) are examples of scenarios that would modify the structure…”
Gravitational probes of dark matter physics (2017, background): “the formation of dark disks in spiral galaxies [222].”
STARS, GAS, AND DARK MATTER IN THE SOLAR NEIGHBORHOOD (2015, background): “It has also been suggested that there is a thin disk (scale height h 100(= pc)—Shaviv et al. 2014) or very thin disk (h 10(= pc)—Fan et al. 2013; Randall & Reece 2014; Kramer & Randall 2015) of dark matter that brings the period of vertical oscillations of the Sun into agreement with the 30~ Myr…”
Dark nuclei. I. Cosmology and indirect detection (2014, background): “Popular examples include dark sectors, or sub-sectors, with dark atomic behavior [1–12] or strongly-coupled dark sectors leading to composite DM candidates [13–35], which are the focus of this work.”
Lectures on Dark Matter Physics (2016, background): “(2)Theories with several DM components may include a small fraction of self-interacting particles that collapse to form a disk [5].”