Bouncing Dark Matter

Abstract

We present a novel mechanism for thermal dark matter production, characterized by a "bounce": the dark matter equilibrium distribution transitions from the canonical exponentially falling abundance to an exponentially rising one, resulting in an enhancement of the freezeout abundance by many orders of magnitude. We discuss several realizations of bouncing dark matter. The bounce allows the present day dark matter annihilation cross section to be significantly larger than the canonical thermal target, improving the prospects for indirect detection signals.