Boosted Dark Matter at the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment

TL;DR

This paper explores the potential to detect boosted dark matter particles from the Sun at the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment, focusing on a two-particle dark sector with a large mass difference and suppressed standard model interactions.

Contribution

It introduces a novel detection strategy for a non-minimal dark sector using large-volume neutrino detectors, emphasizing boosted dark matter from the Sun and comparing it with galactic center sources.

Findings

Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment can detect boosted dark matter from the Sun.

Sensitivity estimates show promising detection prospects for non-minimal dark sectors.

Comparison indicates different sources have distinct detection signatures.

Abstract

We investigate the detection prospects of a non-standard dark sector in the context of boosted dark matter. We consider a scenario where two stable particles have a large mass difference and the heavier particle accounts for most of dark matter in our current universe. The heavier candidate is assumed to have no interaction with the standard model particles at tree-level, hence evading existing constraints. Although subdominant, the lighter dark matter particles are efficiently produced via pair-annihilation of the heavier ones in the center of the Galaxy or the Sun. The large Lorentz boost enables detection of the non-minimal dark sector in large volume terrestrial experiments via exchange of a light dark photon with electrons or nuclei. Various experiments designed for neutrino physics and proton decay are examined in detail, including Super-K and Hyper-K. In this study, we focus on the sensitivity of the far detector at the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment for boosted dark matter produced in the center of the Sun, and compare our findings with recent results for boosted dark matter produced in the galactic center.