Year: 2026
Type: preprint
Abstract: We study self-interacting dark matter composed of heavy baryons in a confining dark $SU(N)$ gauge theory with a single heavy vector-like quark, $m_Q \gg Λ_d$. In this regime, the dark baryons are compact Coulombic bound states whose long-distance interactions can be described by a multipole expansion. We derive the leading baryon-baryon interaction by adapting the quarkonium operator-product-expansion formalism to heavy baryons. The resulting force contains non-retarded London dispersion, retarded Casimir-Polder, and Yukawa contributions from dark glueball exchange. We find that the self-interaction phenomenology depends strongly on the number of colors. For $N=2,3$, the attractive interaction is too weak to overcome the short-distance Pauli repulsion, and no phenomenologically relevant velocity dependence is obtained within our minimal set-up. For sufficiently large $N$, the attractive interaction remains competitive with the repulsive core and can generate strong velocity dependent cross sections. Taking $SU(10)$ as a representative finite-$N$ realization, we find regions compatible with self-interaction requirements inferred from dwarf galaxies and clusters, while allowing much larger cross sections at low velocities relevant for gravothermal evolution. These regions correspond to GeV-scale dark baryons and a confinement scale close to that of QCD, which naturally motivate an asymmetric dark matter origin.
Source: arXiv (Cornell University)
Language: English
Subfield: Nuclear and High Energy Physics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
Funders: Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades, European Commission, Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst, Generalitat Valenciana, Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación, Karlsruhe School of Elementary Particle and Astroparticle Physics: Science and Technology, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, HORIZON EUROPE Framework Programme, Agencia Estatal de Investigación
Awards: G1105844351, G1272900390, G1422035950, G1570660777, G1610934229, G1764267590, G1855990336, G2309174360, G3176647223, G3220251042, G3480961101, G3518538256, G3857581125, G4014979219, G430777504, G4511208782, G5222023348, G5421974903, G5635532810, G5655158037, G745419941, G7502457081, G7805626310, G7863371703, G8497050386, G8527927099
OpenAlex ID: W7215110478