Boosting the cosmic 21-cm signal with exotic Lyman-$\alpha$ from dark matter

TL;DR

This paper proposes a new method to detect dark matter by using Lyman-alpha photons from dark matter decay to enhance the 21-cm signal during cosmic dawn, offering a less uncertain way to constrain dark matter properties.

Contribution

It introduces a novel mechanism where dark matter decay-produced Lyman-alpha photons induce early Wouthuysen-Field coupling, improving constraints on light decaying dark matter independent of star formation uncertainties.

Findings

Forecasts show upcoming radio telescopes can probe new dark matter parameter space.

The mechanism is effective for dark matter with masses 20.4-27.2 eV.

Potential to constrain axion-like particles.

Abstract

The 21-cm signal from the epoch of cosmic dawn ($z \sim 10-30$) offers a powerful probe of new physics. One standard mechanism for constraining decaying dark matter from 21-cm observations relies on heating of the intergalactic medium by the decay products, an effect whose observability is entangled with the uncertain Lyman-$\alpha$ fluxes and X-ray heating from the first stars. In this Letter, we explore a novel mechanism, where the Lyman-$\alpha$ photons produced from dark matter decay initiate early Wouthuysen-Field coupling of the spin temperature to the gas temperature, thereby boosting the 21-cm signal. This mechanism provides constraints on dark matter that are less dependent on uncertainties associated with star formation than constraints on exotic heating. We study this effect for decaying dark matter with masses $m_{\chi}\sim20.4-27.2$ eV, where diphoton decay efficiently produces Lyman-series photons. We present forecasts for the Hydrogen Epoch of Reionization Array and the Square Kilometre Array, showing their potential to probe an unconstrained parameter space for light decaying DM, including axion-like particles.