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  • Letter
  • Open Access

Thermal misalignment of scalar dark matter

Brian Batell* and Akshay Ghalsasi†

  • Department of Physics and Astronomy, Pittsburgh Particle Physics, Astrophysics, and Cosmology Center, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15260, USA

  • *batell@pitt.edu
  • †akg53@pitt.edu
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Phys. Rev. D 107, L091701 – Published 9 May, 2023

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.107.L091701

Abstract

The conventional misalignment mechanism for scalar dark matter depends on the initial field value, which governs the oscillation amplitude and present-day abundance. We discuss a mechanism by which a feeble coupling of dark matter to a fermion in thermal equilibrium drives the scalar toward its high-temperature potential minimum at large field values, dynamically generating misalignment before oscillations begin. Unlike conventional misalignment production, the dark matter abundance is dictated by microphysics and not by initial conditions. As an application of the generic mechanism, we discuss a realistic scenario in which dark matter couples to the muon.

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Phys. Rev. D 107, L091701– Published 9 May, 2023
  • Received 20 January 2023
  • Accepted 27 April 2023
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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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