Limit on the dark matter mass from its interaction with photons

TL;DR

This paper constrains the mass of dark matter particles interacting with photons using CMB data, establishing a lower limit and exploring implications for cosmological tensions.

Contribution

It introduces a novel method to set a lower mass limit on dark matter based on its photon interactions and analyzes its effects on cosmological parameters.

Findings

Lower limit on dark matter mass: >8.7 keV from Planck data

GDM preserves the sound horizon, not resolving the H0 tension

GDM can address the S8 tension in cosmology

Abstract

In this work, we explore the phenomenology of generalized dark matter (GDM) which interacts with photons ($\gamma$). We assume that DM establishes elastic scattering with $\gamma$ when it has already become nonrelativistic, otherwise the abundance of DM today is disfavored by current observations. Within this scenario, the equation of state (EoS) of DM is determined by its mass ($m_\chi$) and the DM-$\gamma$ scattering cross-section. The distinctive imprints of a nonzero EoS of DM on CMB angular power spectrum allow us to set a lower limit on $m_\chi$ with Planck 2018 data alone, i.e., $m_{\chi} > 8.7$ keV at $95\%$ C.L. In the study of cosmic concordance problems, we find that the GDM scenario preserves the sound horizon ($r_s(z_*)$) predicted in the fiducial $\Lambda$CDM model, and thus does not solve the $H_0$ tension. When performing the joint analysis of Planck+LSS datasets, the best-fit $S_8= 0.785\pm 0.017$ closely matches the given $S_8$ prior. This suggests that the GDM scenario can be counted as a viable candidate to restore the $S_8$ ($\sigma_{8}$) tension.