Topological Dark Matter

TL;DR

This paper discusses the production of topological defects as dark matter candidates, highlighting non-thermal and thermal production mechanisms, and their potential to explain cosmic ray observations.

Contribution

It challenges the Kibble mechanism's estimates, explores alternative production scenarios, and evaluates their viability as dark matter candidates.

Findings

Non-thermal production can yield PeV mass dark matter.

Thermalized skyrmions of TeV mass are viable dark matter candidates.

Certain models with monopoles below inflation scale are excluded.

Abstract

Kibble mechanism drastically underestimates the production of topological defects, as confirmed recently in atomic and condensed matter systems. If non-thermally produced, they can be cosmological dark matter of mass 1-10 PeV. If thermalized, skyrmion of mass 1-10 TeV is also a viable dark matter candidate, whose decay may explain $e^\pm$ spectra in cosmic rays recently measured by PAMELA, FERMI, and HESS. Models that produce magnetic monopoles below the inflation scale, such as Pati-Salam unification, are excluded.