Semi-annihilating $Z_3$ Dark Matter for XENON1T Excess

TL;DR

This paper proposes a novel dark matter model involving semi-annihilation of $Z_3$ dark matter particles producing a light fermion that explains the XENON1T electronic recoil excess, with testable predictions for future experiments.

Contribution

It introduces a new semi-annihilating $Z_3$ dark matter framework that accounts for the XENON1T excess and predicts additional signals in future direct detection experiments.

Findings

The model can reproduce the observed XENON1T excess.

The dark fermion $\psi$ has a box-shaped energy spectrum.

The scenario requires non-standard cosmology due to additional radiation.

Abstract

The recently reported result from XENON1T experiment indicates that there is an excess with $3.5\sigma$ significance in the electronic recoil events. Interpreted as new physics, new sources are needed to account for the electronic scattering. We show that a dark fermion $\psi$ with mass about $ \mathcal{O}\left(10\right)$ MeV from semi-annihilation of $Z_3$ dark matter $X$ and subsequent decay of a dark gauge boson $V_\mu$ may be responsible for the excess. The relevant semi-annihilation process is $X+X\rightarrow \overline{X}+V_\mu (\rightarrow \psi + \overline{\psi})$, in which the final $\psi$ has a box-shape energy spectrum. The fast-moving $\psi$ can scatter with electron through an additional gauge boson that mixes with photon kinetically. The shape of the signals in this model can be consistent with the observed excess. The additional interaction with proton makes this model testable in future searches for nucleus recoil as well. Because of the lightness of invisible particle introduced, this scenario requires non-standard cosmology to accommodate the additional radiation component.