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Title: Supernova 1987A constraints on sub-GeV dark sectors, millicharged particles, the QCD axion, and an axion-like particle

Journal Article · · Journal of High Energy Physics (Online)
ORCiD logo [1];  [1];  [2]
  1. C.N. Yang Institute for Theoretical Physics, Stony Brook, NY (United States)
  2. Fermi National Accelerator Lab. (FNAL), Batavia, IL (United States)

Here, we consider the constraints from Supernova 1987A on particles with small couplings to the Standard Model. We discuss a model with a fermion coupled to a dark photon, with various mass relations in the dark sector; millicharged particles; dark-sector fermions with inelastic transitions; the hadronic QCD axion; and an axion-like particle that couples to Standard Model fermions with couplings proportional to their mass. In the fermion cases, we develop a new diagnostic for assessing when such a particle is trapped at large mixing angles. Our bounds for a fermion coupled to a dark photon constrain small couplings and masses ≲ 200 MeV, and do not decouple for low fermion masses. They exclude parameter space that is otherwise unconstrained by existing accelerator-based and direct-detection searches. In addition, our bounds are complementary to proposed laboratory searches for sub-GeV dark matter, and do not constrain several benchmark-model targets in parameter space for which the dark matter obtains the correct relic abundance from interactions with the Standard Model. For a millicharged particle, we exclude charges between 10–9–few×10–6 in units of the electron charge, also for masses ≲ 200 MeV; this excludes parameter space to higher millicharges and masses than previous bounds. For the QCD axion and an axion-like particle, we apply several updated nuclear physics calculations and include the energy dependence of the optical depth to accurately account for energy loss at large couplings. These corrections allow us to rule out a hadronic axion of mass between 0.1 and a few hundred eV, or equivalently to put a bound on the scale of Peccei-Quinn symmetry breaking between a few×104 and 108 GeV, closing the hadronic axion window. For an axion-like particle, our bounds disfavor decay constants between a few×105 GeV up to a few×108 GeV, for a mass ≲ 200 MeV. In all cases, our bounds differ from previous work by more than an order of magnitude across the entire parameter space. We also provide estimated systematic errors due to the uncertainties of the progenitor.

Research Organization:
Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (FNAL), Batavia, IL (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), High Energy Physics (HEP)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC02-07CH11359
OSTI ID:
1429332
Report Number(s):
YITP-SB-18-01; FERMILAB-PUB-17-432-T; arXiv:1803.00993; 1658479; TRN: US1802315
Journal Information:
Journal of High Energy Physics (Online), Vol. 2018, Issue 9; ISSN 1029-8479
Publisher:
Springer BerlinCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 277 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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Cited By (52)

Gravitational waves from first-order phase transition in a simple axion-like particle model journal November 2019
Constraints on bosonic dark matter from ultralow-field nuclear magnetic resonance text January 2019
CHAMP cosmic rays journal July 2019
Axion couplings to electroweak gauge bosons journal March 2019
Addressing astrophysical and cosmological problems with secretly asymmetric dark matter journal July 2019
Physics potential of the International Axion Observatory (IAXO) journal June 2019
Tritium beta decay with additional emission of new light bosons text January 2019
Dark matter decaying into millicharged particles as a solution to AMS-02 positron excess journal April 2019
Physics potential of the International Axion Observatory (IAXO) text January 2019
Automatic Peccei–Quinn symmetry journal June 2019
Constraints on Dark Matter with a moderately large and velocity-dependent DM-nucleon cross-section journal October 2018
Direct detection of strongly interacting sub-GeV dark matter via electron recoils journal September 2019
Constraints on bosonic dark matter from ultralow-field nuclear magnetic resonance journal October 2019
Several Problems in Particle Physics and Cosmology Solved in One SMASH text January 2019
New limits on charged dark matter from large-scale coherent magnetic fields journal December 2019
Improved axion emissivity from a supernova via nucleon-nucleon bremsstrahlung journal October 2019
Search for Axionlike Dark Matter with a Liquid-State Nuclear Spin Comagnetometer text January 2019
Nelson-Barr relaxion journal February 2019
Refined bounds on MeV-scale thermal dark sectors from BBN and the CMB journal January 2020
Geometric inflation and dark energy with axion F ( R ) gravity journal February 2020
Tunable Axion Plasma Haloscopes journal October 2019
Dirac materials for sub-MeV dark matter detection: New targets and improved formalism text January 2020
A new experimental approach to probe QCD axion dark matter in the mass range above $${ 40}\,{\upmu }\mathrm{{eV}}$$ 40 μ eV journal March 2019
Flavour Violating Axions text January 2019
Signatures of mirror stars journal March 2020
Signatures of dark Higgs boson in light fermionic dark matter scenarios journal December 2018
Flavour Violating Axions journal January 2020
Physics potential of the International Axion Observatory (IAXO) text January 2019
Several Problems in Particle Physics and Cosmology Solved in One SMASH text January 2019
Cosmological Signatures of a Mirror Twin Higgs preprint January 2018
Constraints on Dark Matter with a moderately large and velocity-dependent DM-nucleon cross-section text January 2018
Composite Asymmetric Dark Matter with a Dark Photon Portal text January 2018
Detecting Dark Blobs text January 2018
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Supernova signals of light dark matter text January 2019
Baryon-Dark Matter Coincidence in Mirrored Unification text January 2019
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Cooling binary neutron star remnants via nucleon-nucleon-axion bremsstrahlung text January 2019
Signatures of Mirror Stars text January 2019
Refined Bounds on MeV-scale Thermal Dark Sectors from BBN and the CMB text January 2019
Dirac Materials for Sub-MeV Dark Matter Detection: New Targets and Improved Formalism text January 2019
Flavour Violating Axions text January 2019

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