Freeze-in of anapole and charge-radius inelastic dark matter: X-ray probes of a decoupled vector portal
Year: 2026
Type: preprint
Abstract: We study freeze-in production and experimental probes of inelastic dark matter (iDM) coupled to the Standard Model through dimension-6 transition anapole and charge-radius operators. These interactions arise upon integrating out the heavy dark photon of a broken $U(1)_D$ vector portal. We focus on mass splittings below the dielectron threshold, where the excited-state decay is cosmologically long-lived and decays predominantly through $χ_1\toχ_0+3γ$, producing a distinctive keV--MeV photon spectrum. We calculate the decay rate and photon spectrum analytically in the Euler--Heisenberg limit and evaluate finite-electron-mass corrections using the full one-loop amplitude. We then combine X-ray limits with freeze-in relic density targets and complementary direct detection (DD) and accelerator constraints. The surviving $χ_1$ population also leads to exothermic downscattering signatures at DD experiments, including the possibility of explaining the LZ signal, while the three-photon decay is constrained by X-ray data. At $Δ=900\,\mathrm{keV}$, INTEGRAL/SPI probes the Boltzmann-suppressed high-mass branches of the freeze-in targets, whereas the NuSTAR limits at $Δ=100\,\mathrm{keV}$ are substantially weaker because of the steep splitting dependence of the decay width. Our results demonstrate the potential of X-ray observations as a probe of freeze-in through a decoupled vector portal and of the reheating temperature governing the iDM production.
Source: arXiv (Cornell University)
Authors: Jodłowski, Krzysztof, Lu, Chih-Ting
Language: English
Subfield: Nuclear and High Energy Physics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
Awards: G3042702064, G5521981088
OpenAlex ID: W7214701020