BBN constraints on the hadronic annihilation of sub-GeV dark matter
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: We investigate the impact of residual annihilation from sub-GeV mass thermal relic dark matter candidates during big bang nucleosynthesis (BBN). Focusing on candidates with p -wave annihilation channels, we show that the hadronic injection of pions and kaons beyond freeze-out, and their subsequent interaction with protons and neutrons prior to the deuterium bottleneck, provides a sensitivity to annihilation that surpasses that of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) and indirect detection in the galaxy.
DOI: 10.1103/b5wj-jw62
Authors: Afif Omar, Adam Ritz
Institutions: TRIUMF, University of Victoria
Language: English
Subfield: Nuclear and High Energy Physics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
OpenAlex ID: W7124195553