Searching for dark photon tridents through primordial black hole signatures
4 affiliations
- 1National Tsing Hua University
- 2Konkuk University
- 3Seoul National University of Science and Technology
- 4National Center for Theoretical Sciences
Abstract
The detection of gamma-ray signals from primordial black holes (PBHs) could provide compelling evidence for their role as a dark matter candidate, particularly through the observation of their Hawking radiation. Future gamma-ray observatories, such as e-ASTROGAM, and the next-generation telescopes, are poised to explore this possibility by measuring both Standard Model (SM) and beyond-the-SM particle emissions. A particularly promising avenue involves production of dark photons by PBHs, which is a hypothetical particle that decays into photons. In this work, we investigate the trident decay of dark photons with mass mA'≤ 1 m A ′ ≤ 1 MeV focusing on their primary emission from asteroid-mass PBHs. We assume that the dark photons produced via Hawking radiation decay into photons well before reaching Earth, thereby enhancing the detectable gamma-ray flux. The energy spectrum of the photons decaying from the dark photons is distinct from that of direct Hawking-radiated photons due to higher degree of freedom, leading to observable modifications in the gamma-ray signal. Using the asteroid-mass PBHs as a case study, we demonstrate that future gamma-ray missions could detect dark-photon signatures and distinguish them from conventional Hawking radiation. This approach enables the exploration of previously inaccessible parameter spaces in dark photon mass mA'≤ 1 m A ′ ≤ 1 MeV and their coupling to photons, offering a viable avenue to uncover the properties of dark sectors and the nature of asteroid-mass PBHs.
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BibTeX
@article{cheung2026searching,
title = {{Searching for dark photon tridents through primordial black hole signatures}},
author = {Kingman Cheung and C. J. Ouseph and Po-Yan Tseng and Sin Kyu Kang},
journal = {The European Physical Journal C},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1140/epjc/s10052-026-16317-4},
url = {https://link.springer.com/article/10.1140/epjc/s10052-026-16317-4},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Searching for dark photon tridents through primordial black hole signatures
AU - Kingman Cheung
AU - C. J. Ouseph
AU - Po-Yan Tseng
AU - Sin Kyu Kang
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/23
JO - The European Physical Journal C
DO - 10.1140/epjc/s10052-026-16317-4
UR - https://link.springer.com/article/10.1140/epjc/s10052-026-16317-4
AB - The detection of gamma-ray signals from primordial black holes (PBHs) could provide compelling evidence for their role as a dark matter candidate, particularly through the observation of their Hawking radiation. Future gamma-ray observatories, such as e-ASTROGAM, and the next-generation telescopes, are poised to explore this possibility by measuring both Standard Model (SM) and beyond-the-SM particle emissions. A particularly promising avenue involves production of dark photons by PBHs, which is a hypothetical particle that decays into photons. In this work, we investigate the trident decay of dark photons with mass m_A'≤ 1 m A ′ ≤ 1 MeV focusing on their primary emission from asteroid-mass PBHs. We assume that the dark photons produced via Hawking radiation decay into photons well before reaching Earth, thereby enhancing the detectable gamma-ray flux. The energy spectrum of the photons decaying from the dark photons is distinct from that of direct Hawking-radiated photons due to higher degree of freedom, leading to observable modifications in the gamma-ray signal. Using the asteroid-mass PBHs as a case study, we demonstrate that future gamma-ray missions could detect dark-photon signatures and distinguish them from conventional Hawking radiation. This approach enables the exploration of previously inaccessible parameter spaces in dark photon mass m_A'≤ 1 m A ′ ≤ 1 MeV and their coupling to photons, offering a viable avenue to uncover the properties of dark sectors and the nature of asteroid-mass PBHs.
SN - 1434-6044
SN - 1434-6052
ER -