Dark matter from dark photons

TL;DR

This paper discusses how dark matter relic abundance can be explained through models involving dark photons, focusing on multiple production regimes and the sequential freeze-in mechanism in a three-sector framework.

Contribution

It introduces a comprehensive analysis of dark matter production via dark photons, highlighting nine regimes and the novel sequential freeze-in process.

Findings

Nine distinct regimes for dark matter production identified

Sequential freeze-in mechanism described in detail

Dark photon mass influences the production dynamics

Abstract

In this talk, I explained how the observed dark matter (DM) relic abundance can be accounted for in models composed of three sectors (the DM, the Standard Model (SM) and a light mediator) connected to each other. This scenario is explored in the context of the massive dark photon model in which the DM is connected to the SM through the kinetic mixing between the hypercharge gauge boson and the vector gauge boson associated to a new $U(1)'$ gauge symmetry. In such portal models, the DM relic abundance can be produced in no less than nine regimes along five dynamical mechanisms. In particular, I emphasize the sequential freeze-in dynamical mechanism which can occurs when the dark photon is massive and consists in two successive freeze-in mechanisms.