Self-interacting dark matter from radiative bound-state-formation feedback
Abstract
Observations of galactic structure motivate sizable dark-matter self-interactions at low velocities, naturally realized through light force mediators. Such mediators can also make inelastic processes very efficient. Unitarity then requires their absorptive contributions to the two-particle self-energy kernel to be resummed, which in turn feeds back into both the elastic and inelastic scattering amplitudes. We study the feedback of radiative bound-state formation on elastic scattering and its implications for self-interacting dark matter. We focus on capture processes through emission of a charged scalar; such transitions are particularly efficient because the scattering and bound states are governed by different effective potentials, a feature also shared by radiative capture through emission of a non-Abelian gauge boson. We show that their feedback can generate sizable elastic scattering relevant for halo dynamics, even when the baseline elastic amplitude vanishes. Notably, the generated elastic cross section can grow toward low velocities, resembling long-range scattering. A companion paper examines the feedback from annihilation processes.
Related
- Unitarity violation and restoration in radiative bound-state formation
- Annihilation feedback on elastic scattering in self-interacting dark matter
- Quantum corrections as a Bound for Detecting Self-Interacting Ultralight Dark Matter
- Internal Radiative Feedback Triggers Global Collapse and Direct-Collapse Black Hole Formation in Metal-free Atomic-Cooling Haloes
- Self-Interacting Dark Matter: From Particle Physics Theories to Structure Formation Simulations
BibTeX
@misc{flores2026selfinteracting,
title = {{Self-interacting dark matter from radiative bound-state-formation feedback}},
author = {Marcos M. Flores and Kalliopi Petraki and Thomas Pignard},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2610.27089},
eprint = {2610.27089},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.27089},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Self-interacting dark matter from radiative bound-state-formation feedback
AU - Marcos M. Flores
AU - Kalliopi Petraki
AU - Thomas Pignard
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/19
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2610.27089
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.27089
AB - Observations of galactic structure motivate sizable dark-matter self-interactions at low velocities, naturally realized through light force mediators. Such mediators can also make inelastic processes very efficient. Unitarity then requires their absorptive contributions to the two-particle self-energy kernel to be resummed, which in turn feeds back into both the elastic and inelastic scattering amplitudes. We study the feedback of radiative bound-state formation on elastic scattering and its implications for self-interacting dark matter. We focus on capture processes through emission of a charged scalar; such transitions are particularly efficient because the scattering and bound states are governed by different effective potentials, a feature also shared by radiative capture through emission of a non-Abelian gauge boson. We show that their feedback can generate sizable elastic scattering relevant for halo dynamics, even when the baseline elastic amplitude vanishes. Notably, the generated elastic cross section can grow toward low velocities, resembling long-range scattering. A companion paper examines the feedback from annihilation processes.
ER -