Year: 2026
Type: preprint
Abstract: We assess neutrino-assisted dark matter self-scattering in two scalar-mediator realizations by combining mediator-resolved potentials, numerical scattering calculations, thermal relic production, and the adopted observational constraints. In the $t$-channel case, the adopted laboratory and cosmological bounds suppress the neutrino force contribution at points reproducing the relic abundance and yielding sizable self-interactions, which are dominated by tree-level mediator exchange. Sommerfeld enhancement and early kinetic decoupling can change the relic abundance by up to 50\% in the light mediator regime. In the $s$-channel case, thermal freeze-out fixes the coupling, leaving self-scattering well below the order of magnitude required for explanation of small-scale structure of the universe. An analytic upper envelope explains this shortfall of more than eleven orders of magnitude relative to the self-interacting dark matter benchmark. These results establish that, under the adopted constraints and thermal relic assumptions, the neutrino force cannot account for astrophysically relevant dark matter self-scattering in either realization.
Source: arXiv (Cornell University)
Authors: Wang, Luqi, Guo, Shu-Yuan, Liu, Xuewen, Zhu, Bin
Institution: Yantai University
Language: English
Subfield: Nuclear and High Energy Physics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7220689459