Directional Direct Detection of MeV Scale Boosted Dark Matter in Two Component Dark Matter Scenario via Dark Photon Interaction

TL;DR

This paper proposes a directional detection method for MeV-scale boosted dark matter in a two-component model, utilizing dark photon interactions and nuclear emulsion detectors to identify signals from the Galactic center.

Contribution

It introduces a novel approach combining boosted dark matter detection with directional nuclear emulsion detectors, enhancing sensitivity to low-mass dark matter.

Findings

Nuclear emulsions can detect direction-sensitive signals from boosted dark matter.

Dark photon interactions enable scattering of MeV-scale dark matter with light nuclei.

Potential to probe low-mass dark matter parameter space beyond conventional methods.

Abstract

This study explores a two-component dark matter model in which one component, heavier dark matter, annihilates into a lighter dark matter. The lighter dark matter is expected to generate detectable signals in detectors due to its enhanced momentum, enabling direct detection even for MeV-scale dark matter. We investigate the effectiveness of directional direct detections, especially the nuclear emulsion detector NEWSdm, in verifying these boosted dark matter particles through nuclear recoil. In particular, we focus on light nuclei, such as protons and carbon, as suitable targets for this detection method due to their high sensitivity to MeV-scale dark matter. By modeling the interactions mediated by a dark photon in a hidden U(1)$_D$ gauge symmetry framework, we calculate the expected dark matter flux and scattering rates for various detector configurations. Our results show that nuclear emulsions have the potential to yield distinct, direction-sensitive dark matter signals from the Galactic center, providing a new way to probe low-mass dark matter parameter spaces that evade conventional detection methods.