Dark Photons in the Radio Sky: II. Resonant Conversions in the Intergalactic Medium
astro-ph.CO, hep-ph
Submitted: 2025-11-12
Updated: 2026-09-17
Comments: 20+14 pages, 8+5 figures, published in PRD
Journal ref: Phys.Rev.D 114 (2026) 4, 043014
DOI: 10.1103/q492-rszq
License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
The gist: This is the second in a pair of papers forecasting the sensitivity of the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) to dark photons, a highly motivated, simple extension of the Standard Model.
Terminology
Abstract
This is the second in a pair of papers forecasting the sensitivity of the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) to dark photons, a highly motivated, simple extension of the Standard Model. Through a kinetic mixing term, visible photons from the cosmic microwave background can resonantly convert into dark photons, generating new temperature anisotropies in the sky. In this work, we detail the entire analysis pipeline that we use to compute SKA's sensitivity, focusing on resonant conversions that occur in the intergalactic medium. We also discuss the sensitivity of 21-cm experiments to dark photons. Our results show that both SKA in combination with galaxy surveys and 21-cm experiments could discover dark photons with masses between 5 times 10-15 and 5 times 10-12 eV, and kinetic mixing parameter ε as low as 10-8.
Sources
- Searching for axion dark matter gegenschein of the Vela supernova remnant with FAST
- Bounds on Dark Matter annihilations from 21 cm data
- Too Hot, Too Cold or Just Right? Implications of a 21-cm Signal for Dark Matter Annihilation and Decay
- Bounds on Dark Matter decay from 21 cm line
- 21cm Limits on Decaying Dark Matter and Primordial Black Holes
- Sensitivity of the Global 21-cm Signal to Dark Matter-Baryon Scattering
- Inhomogeneous Energy Injection in the 21-cm Power Spectrum: Sensitivity to Dark Matter Decay
- 21cm signal sensitivity to dark matter decay
- Forecasting 21-cm power spectrum sensitivity to dark Matter-baryon scattering
- Constraining inhomogeneous energy injection from annihilating dark matter and primordial black holes with 21-cm cosmology
- Boosting the cosmic 21-cm signal with exotic Lyman-$\alpha$ from dark matter
- A simulation calibrated limit on the HI power spectrum from the GMRT Epoch of Reionization experiment
- Overcoming real-world obstacles in 21 cm power spectrum estimation: A method demonstration and results from early Murchison Widefield Array data
- Upper limits on the 21-cm Epoch of Reionization power spectrum from one night with LOFAR
- A simplified, lossless re-analysis of PAPER-64
- A 21-cm power spectrum at 48 MHz, using the Owens Valley Long Wavelength Array
- First Results from HERA Phase I: Upper Limits on the Epoch of Reionization 21 cm Power Spectrum
- Fundamental Physics with the Square Kilometre Array
- Detecting Axion Dark Matter with Radio Lines from Neutron Star Populations
- Radio Signal of Axion-Photon Conversion in Neutron Stars: A Ray Tracing Analysis
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