New dissipation mechanisms from multilevel dark matter scattering

Abstract

Multilevel dark matter with diagonal and off-diagonal interactions shows a rich phenomenology in its self-scattering. If the interactions are mediated by a particle that is less massive than the dark matter, the Sommerfeld effect can lead to resonant enhancement of the scattering. For mediators lighter than the level separation, dark matter particles can upscatter to excited states and deexcite by emitting these mediators. We compute these cross sections, both above and below the kinematic threshold, in a generic two-component dark matter model and identify the large inelastic cross section as a result of maximal mixing between the two states. A new route for cooling of large dark matter halos and a new drag force between two colliding halos are identified and shown to arise purely from the inelastic scattering.