PreprintCC BY 4.0arXiv
Mass-Varying Dark Matter, Naturally
Abstract
Ultralight scalars that vary dark-matter masses require protection from quantum corrections. Cyclic ℤN symmetries provide this protection but also suppress variation of the mean mass of equally populated partners. Unsuppressed variation typically requires asymmetric reheating through symmetry-breaking couplings that threaten radiative control. We show that scalar-induced mass splittings built into these constructions can instead bias relic abundances through symmetric interactions. The mechanism applies to thermal and nonthermal relics that reach internal equilibrium after production, and permits mass variation over a broad range of timescales.
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BibTeX
@misc{delaunay2026massvarying,
title = {{Mass-Varying Dark Matter, Naturally}},
author = {Cédric Delaunay and Seung J. Lee and Yuan Yin and Bingrong Yu},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2610.30253},
eprint = {2610.30253},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.30253},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Mass-Varying Dark Matter, Naturally
AU - Cédric Delaunay
AU - Seung J. Lee
AU - Yuan Yin
AU - Bingrong Yu
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/21
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2610.30253
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.30253
AB - Ultralight scalars that vary dark-matter masses require protection from quantum corrections. Cyclic ℤ_N symmetries provide this protection but also suppress variation of the mean mass of equally populated partners. Unsuppressed variation typically requires asymmetric reheating through symmetry-breaking couplings that threaten radiative control. We show that scalar-induced mass splittings built into these constructions can instead bias relic abundances through symmetric interactions. The mechanism applies to thermal and nonthermal relics that reach internal equilibrium after production, and permits mass variation over a broad range of timescales.
ER -