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Earth-bound Milli-charge Relics

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arxiv 2012.03957 v2 pith:6XULJDZJ submitted 2020-12-07 hep-ph astro-ph.CO

classification hep-phastro-ph.CO
keywords mcpsdarkmatterdensitiesdetectiondirectexperimentalexperiments
verification ladder T0 review T1 audit T2 compute T3 formal
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abstract

Dark sector particles with small electric charge, or millicharge, (mCPs) may lead to a variety of diverse phenomena in particle physics, astrophysics and cosmology. Assuming their possible existence, we investigate the accumulation and propagation of mCPs in matter, specifically inside the Earth. Even small values of millicharge lead to sizeable scattering cross sections on atoms, resulting in complete thermalization, and as a consequence, considerable build-up of number densities of mCPs, especially for the values of masses of GeV and higher when the evaporation becomes inhibited. Enhancement of mCP densities compared to their galactic abundance, that can be as big as $10^{14}$, leads to the possibility of new experimental probes for this model. The annihilation of pairs of mCPs will result in new signatures for the large volume detectors (such as Super-Kamiokande). Formation of bound states of negatively charged mCPs with nuclei can be observed by direct dark matter detection experiments. A unique probe of mCP can be developed using underground electrostatic accelerators that can directly accelerate mCPs above the experimental thresholds of direct dark matter detection experiments.

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Cited by 4 Pith papers

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  2. Complementary Planetary Spectroscopy Probes of Dark Matter

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  3. Constraints and Projections for Millicharged Dark Matter in the Sun with Water Cherenkov Neutrino Detectors

    hep-ph 2026-06 unverdicted novelty 5.0 of 10

    Super-Kamiokande constrains millicharged dark matter at 5-28 GeV for fractional abundance 10^{-4.5}; Hyper-Kamiokande reaches down to 5x10^{-6}.

  4. Millicharged Particle Constraints from Asymptotic Giant Branch Stars

    hep-ph 2026-05 unverdicted novelty 4.0 of 10

    New upper bounds on millicharged particles (masses 10-100 keV, charges down to 5e-13) from the AGB-to-HB star ratio in globular clusters, improving prior limits by up to two orders of magnitude.

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