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Cosmological constraints on exotic injection of electromagnetic energy

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abstract

We compute cosmic microwave background (CMB) anisotropy constraints on exotic forms of energy injection in electromagnetic (e.m.) channels over a large range of timescales. These constraints are very powerful around or just after recombination, although CMB keeps some sensitivity e.g. to decaying species with lifetimes as long as $10^{25}\,$s. We review here complementary with CMB spectral distortions and primordial nucleosynthesis bounds, which dominate at earlier timescales. For the first time, we describe the effects of the e.m. energy injection on the CMB power spectra as a function of the injection epoch, using the lifetime of a decaying particle as proxy. We identify a suitable on-the-spot approximation. Our results are of interest not only for early universe relics constituting (a fraction of) the dark matter, but also for other exotic injection of e.m. radiation. For illustration, we apply our formalism to: i) Primordial black holes of mass $\in [10^{13.5},10^{16.8}]$ g, showing that the constraints are comparable to the ones obtained from gamma-ray background studies and even dominate below $\sim 10^{14}$g. ii) To a peculiar mass-mixing range in the sterile neutrino parameter space, complementary to other astrophysical and laboratory probes. iii) Finally, we provide a first estimate of the room for improvement left for forthcoming 21 cm experiments, comparing it with the reach of proposed CMB spectral distortion (PiXiE) and CMB angular power spectrum (CORE) missions. We show that the best and most realistic opportunity to look for this signal (or to improve over current constraints) in the 21 cm probe is to focus on the Cosmic Dawn epoch, $15\lesssim z\lesssim30$, where the qualitatively unambiguous signature of a spectrum in emission can be expected for models that evade all current constraints.

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Massive Graviton Dark Matter from a Gapped Continuum

hep-th · 2026-07-08 · conditional · novelty 6.0

Radiative corrections pull an isolated, long-lived massive graviton out of the gapped linear-dilaton continuum, giving a sub-MeV dark-matter candidate that can coexist with a holographic fluid component.

Nucleosynthesis and CMB bounds on photophilic ALPs: a fresh look

hep-ph · 2025-10-31 · unverdicted · novelty 5.0

Updated model-independent BBN and CMB bounds on photophilic ALPs that incorporate rare decays to light hadrons, show extended constraints for multiple reheating temperatures, and flag parameter space that may alleviate tensions in N_eff and deuterium abundance.

The KM3NeT event: a primordial high energy neutrino?

astro-ph.HE · 2026-04-20 · unverdicted · novelty 5.0

The KM3NeT neutrino event may be a primordial neutrino from relic particle decay or annihilation near recombination, yielding a narrow spectral peak that evades broad power-law constraints from other telescopes.

Constraints on Primordial Black Holes

astro-ph.CO · 2020-02-27 · accept · novelty 4.0

Updated compilation shows PBHs are tightly constrained across 55 orders of magnitude in mass, ruling out dominant dark matter contributions except in narrow windows, with many limits carrying observational uncertainties.

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