Enhanced Monochromatic Photon Emission from Millicharged Co-Interacting Dark Matter

Abstract

We study a millicharged co-interacting dark matter scenario, where the primary dark matter constituent is the dark photon $A'$ and the secondary component is the fermion $\chi$. In this model, $\chi$ interacts with $A'$ via a $U(1)'$ interaction while being millicharged with respect to normal photons. Our investigation focuses on the oscillation of $A'$ dark matter into photons within the background of $\chi$ particles, revealing that the $A'-\chi$ scattering rate benefits from a Bose enhancement of the $A'$ final state. As the oscillation production rate is directly linked to the scattering rate, the conversion of $A'$ dark matter into monochromatic photons experiences significant amplification owing to this Bose enhancement, especially when the scattering rate $\Gamma_{\rm sca}$ approaches the dark photon mass $m_{A'}$. These converted monochromatic photons are detectable through radio telescopes and can induce distortions in the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) spectrum. We find that the sensitivity of radio telescopes and the constraints imposed by CMB distortion on the kinetic mixing parameter are notably heightened compared to scenarios without the subdominant millicharged dark matter.