Probing Non-Minimal Dark Sectors via the 21 cm Line at Cosmic Dawn

TL;DR

This paper explores how 21 cm line observations during cosmic dawn can constrain complex dark sector models, including metastable particles and non-minimal interactions, providing new bounds and insights into dark matter properties.

Contribution

It extends previous decaying dark matter analyses to include non-minimal dark sectors with multiple components and provides model-independent parameterizations and explicit examples.

Findings

21 cm observations set leading bounds on metastable particles

Constraints extend to dark matter masses as low as 20.4 eV

Probes parameter space inaccessible to other methods

Abstract

Observations of the hydrogen hyperfine transition through the 21 cm line near the end of the cosmic dark ages provide unique opportunities to probe new physics. In this work, we investigate the potential of the sky-averaged 21 cm signal to constrain metastable particles produced in the early universe that decay at later times, thereby modifying the thermal and ionization history of the intergalactic medium. The study begins by extending previous analyses of decaying dark matter (DM), incorporating back-reaction effects and tightening photon decay constraints down to DM masses as low as 20.4 eV. The focus then shifts to non-minimal dark sectors with multiple interacting components. The analysis covers two key scenarios: a hybrid setup comprising a stable cold DM component alongside a metastable sub-component, and a two-component dark sector of nearly degenerate states with a metastable heavier partner. A general parameterization based on effective mass spectra and fractional densities allows for a model-independent study. The final part presents two explicit realizations: an axion-like particle coupled to photons, and pseudo-Dirac DM interacting via vector portals or electromagnetic dipoles. These scenarios illustrate how 21 cm cosmology can set leading bounds and probe otherwise inaccessible regions of parameter space.