Accelerating composite dark matter discovery with nuclear recoils and the Migdal effect

Abstract

Large composite dark matter states source a scalar binding field that, when coupled to Standard Model nucleons, provides a potential under which nuclei recoil and accelerate to energies capable of ionization, radiation, and thermonuclear reactions. We show that these dynamics are detectable for nucleon couplings as small as ${g}_{n}\ensuremath{\sim}{10}^{\ensuremath{-}17}$ at dark matter experiments, where the greatest sensitivity is attained by considering the Migdal effect. We also explore type-Ia supernovae and planetary heating as possible means to discover this type of dark matter.

Topics & Concepts