Effects of dark atom excitations

TL;DR

This paper explores the structure and electromagnetic transition spectrum of O-helium dark atoms, which are formed by stable charged particles bound to primordial helium, to facilitate indirect detection of composite dark matter.

Contribution

It provides a detailed analysis of the energy levels and transition spectrum of OHe dark atoms, essential for indirect detection methods in dark matter research.

Findings

Calculated the atomic energy levels of OHe dark atoms.

Presented the spectrum of electromagnetic transitions from excited states.

Provided insights for indirect detection of dark matter via atomic excitations.

Abstract

New stable quarks and charged leptons may exist and be hidden from detection, as they are bound by Coulomb interaction in neutral dark atoms of composite dark matter. This possibility leads to fundamentally new types of indirect effects related to the excitation of such dark atoms followed by their electromagnetic de-excitation. Stable -2 charged particles, bound to primordial helium in O-helium (OHe) atoms, represent the simplest model of dark atoms. Here we consider the structure of OHe atomic levels which is a necessary input for the indirect tests of such composite dark matter scenarios, and we give the spectrum of electromagnetic transitions from the levels excited in OHe collisions.