Self-interacting dark baryons

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates that dark baryons modeled after QCD can have velocity-dependent self-interactions suitable for solving small-scale structure issues, without forming heavier nuclei, and discusses detection prospects.

Contribution

It identifies parameter ranges for a dark QCD-like sector that produce desired self-interaction cross sections while avoiding stable nuclei formation.

Findings

Dark baryons can have velocity-dependent self-interactions matching astrophysical requirements.

Parameter space exists where no stable deuteron or heavier nuclei form.

Dark proton detection via dark photon exchange is feasible in future experiments.

Abstract

Using results from lattice QCD, it is possible to quantitatively design models of dark baryons leading to velocity-dependent self-interaction cross sections that match the values needed for solving small-scale structure problems of standard cold dark matter. However it is not obvious that the main dark matter component in such models will be nucleons rather than large nuclei, or dark pions or atoms, whose scattering properties would be different. We first identify the parameters of a dark SU(3) sector analogous to QCD -- the confinement scale $\Lambda$ and pion mass $m_\pi$ -- needed to reproduce desired self-interaction cross sections. Then we show that these values can generically be compatible with the absence of a sufficiently stable deuteron bound state, and hence leading to no heavier nuclei, thus establishing the consistency of the scenario for self-interacting dark nucleons. The range of dark photon masses needed to avoid dominant pion or atomic dark matter is determined, as well as allowed values for the kinetic mixing parameter. The dark proton might be detected directly in future searches, by dark photon exchange.