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  • Open Access

Photonic freeze-in

Peter Cox*, Matthew J. Dolan†, and Frederick J. Hiskens‡

  • *Contact author: peter.cox@unimelb.edu.au
  • †Contact author: matthew.dolan@unimelb.edu.au
  • ‡Contact author: frederick.hiskens@unimelb.edu.au
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Phys. Rev. D 113, 115031 – Published 11 June, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/4w66-9tqz

Abstract

We present a new scenario of freeze-in, where the dark matter is produced exclusively via the annihilation of photons. We study fermionic and scalar dark matter models with a focus on cosmological histories with low reheat temperatures. Photonic freeze-in can be probed via direct detection, dark matter production in SN1987A, and via the production of new electromagnetically charged states at the LHC. We briefly discuss UV-complete models that can realize this scenario.

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Phys. Rev. D 113, 115031– Published 11 June, 2026
  • Received 23 September 2025
  • Accepted 29 April 2026
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Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article’s title, journal citation, and DOI. Funded by SCOAP3.

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