Constraints on dark photon dark matter from Lyman-alpha forest simulations and an ultra-high signal-to-noise quasar spectrum

Andrea, Trost,; James S., Bolton,; Andrea, Caputo,; Hongwan, Liu,; Stefano, Cristiani,; Matteo, Viel,

Abstract

The ultralight dark photon is a well-motivated, hypothetical dark matter candidate. In a dilute plasma, they can resonantly convert into photons, and heat up the intergalactic medium between galaxies. In this work, we explore the dark photon dark matter parameter space by comparing synthetic Lyman-𝛼 forest data from cosmological hydrodynamical simulations to observational data from VLT/UVES of the quasar HE0940-1050 (𝑧em =3.09). We use a novel flux normalization technique that targets underdense gas, reshaping the flux probability distribution. Not only do we place robust constraints on the kinetic mixing parameter of dark photon dark matter, but notably our findings suggest that this model can still reconcile simulated and observed Doppler parameter distributions of 𝑧 ∼0 Lyman-𝛼 lines, as seen by HST/COS. This work opens new pathways for the use of the Lyman-𝛼 forest to explore new physics, and can be extended to other scenarios such as primordial black hole evaporation, dark matter decay, and annihilation.

Citation

Andrea, T., James S., B., Andrea, C., Hongwan, L., Stefano, C., & Matteo, V. (in press). Constraints on dark photon dark matter from Lyman-alpha forest simulations and an ultra-high signal-to-noise quasar spectrum. Physical Review D, 111, Article 083034. https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.111.083034

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Apr 2, 2025
• Online Publication Date: Apr 22, 2025
• Deposit Date: Apr 23, 2025
• Publicly Available Date: Apr 24, 2025
• Journal: Physical Review D
• Print ISSN: 2470-0010
• Electronic ISSN: 2470-0029
• Publisher: American Physical Society
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 111
• Article Number: 083034
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.111.083034
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/40851155
• Publisher URL: https://journals.aps.org/prd/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevD.111.083034