Reviving WIMP dark matter with temperature-dependent couplings

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Abstract
The persistent null results at dark matter (DM) direct-detection experiments have pushed the popular weakly interacting massive particle (WIMP) DM to tight corners. Generic WIMP models with direct-detection rates below the current upper limits often lead to a thermally overproduced relic abundance after freeze-out. To resolve this conundrum, we propose a novel scenario where DM has temperature-dependent couplings with the standard model (SM) bath. A scalar field having a large vacuum expectation value (VEV) at high temperatures generates sizeable DM-SM interactions, leading to efficient DM annihilations responsible for generating the desired thermal relic. At lower temperatures, the scalar field VEV settles down to a small value as a result of a phase transition which can generically be of first order, effectively leading to a suppressed DM-SM interaction rate at low temperature, consistent with null results at direct-detection experiments. The upper bound on thermal DM mass forces the first-order phase transition to occur at scales such that the corresponding gravitational wave signal remains within reach of future experiments such as the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna.
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Funding Information
  • Anusandhan National Research Foundation (MTR/2022/000575)
  • Center for Theoretical Underground Physics
  • Sanford Underground Research Facility
  • South Dakota Science and Technology

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