Dark Matter Freeze-In and Small-Scale Observables: Novel Mass Bounds and Viable Particle Candidates

TL;DR

This paper investigates how freeze-in produced dark matter affects small-scale cosmic structures, deriving new mass bounds and exploring various particle candidates using recent observational data and a general, efficient analysis framework.

Contribution

It introduces a model-independent method to set lower mass bounds for freeze-in dark matter across multiple production mechanisms and candidate models, validated by specific case studies.

Findings

Derived lower mass bounds for freeze-in dark matter from observational constraints.

Validated the model-independent bounds with specific particle physics scenarios.

Provided a computationally efficient framework applicable to a wide range of models.

Abstract

The suppression of cosmological structure at small scales is a key signature of dark matter (DM) produced via freeze-in in the low-mass regime. We present a comprehensive analysis of its impact, incorporating recent constraints from Milky Way satellite counts, strong gravitational lensing with JWST data, and the Lyman-$\alpha$ forest. We adopt a general strategy to translate existing warm dark matter (WDM) bounds into lower mass limits for a broad class of DM candidates characterized by quasi-thermal phase space distributions. The benefits of this approach include computational efficiency and the ability to explore a wide range of models. We derive model-independent bounds for DM produced via two-body decays, scatterings, and three-body decays, and apply the framework to concrete scenarios such as the Higgs portal, sterile neutrinos, axion-like particles, and the dark photon portal. Results from specific models confirm the validity of the model-independent analysis.