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DOE OSTI · 3028459

Topological freeze-out by semi-annihilation

Davighi, Joseph [European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), Geneva (Switzerland)] (ORCID:0000000310020972)·Moldovsky, Serah [University of California, Berkeley, CA (United States); Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)] (ORCID:0009000618654266)·Murayama, Hitoshi [University of California, Berkeley, CA (United States); Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); University of Tokyo (Japan). Kavli Institute for the Physics and Mathematics of the Universe (WPI)] (ORCID:0000000157699471)·Scherb, Christiane [University of California, Berkeley, CA (United States); Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)] (ORCID:0000000281462623)·Selimović, Nudžeim [Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (INFN), Padova (Italy)] (ORCID:0000000337801437)
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Abstract

We point out that a QCD-like dark sector can be coupled to the Standard Model by gauging the topological Skyrme current, which measures the dark baryon number in the infrared, to give a technically natural model for dark matter. This coupling allows for a semi-annihilation process χχ → χX μ , where X μ is the gauge boson mediator and χ a dark pion field, which plays the dominant role in setting the dark matter relic abundance. The topological interaction is purely p-wave and so free from indirect detection constraints. We show that the dark matter pion mass needs to be in the range 10 MeV ≲ m χ ≲ 1 TeV; towards the lighter end of this range, there can moreover be significant self-interactions. We discuss prospects for probing this scenario at collider experiments, ranging from the LHC to low-energy e + e − colliders, future Higgs factories, and beam-dump experiments.

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Davighi, Joseph [European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), Geneva (Switzerland)] (ORCID:0000000310020972), Moldovsky, Serah [University of California, Berkeley, CA (United States); Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)] (ORCID:0009000618654266), Murayama, Hitoshi [University of California, Berkeley, CA (United States); Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); University of Tokyo (Japan). Kavli Institute for the Physics and Mathematics of the Universe (WPI)] (ORCID:0000000157699471), Scherb, Christiane [University of California, Berkeley, CA (United States); Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)] (ORCID:0000000281462623), Selimović, Nudžeim [Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (INFN), Padova (Italy)] (ORCID:0000000337801437). 2026-02-11. Topological freeze-out by semi-annihilation. https://doi.org/10.1007/jhep02(2026)133

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