Possible influence of Dark Energy on the Dark Matter Relic Abundance

Abstract

Although a direct interaction between WIMP CDM candidates and scalar Quintessence fields (sources of Dark Energy) poses severe phenomenological threats, yet it is possible that the presence of Quintessence produces profound deviations in the expansion rate of the early Universe at the moment of WIMP decoupling, hence causing significant enhancements of the relic DM abundance. We consider the occurrence of such a phenomenon in a couple of physically interesting situations, kination and scalar-tensor theories of gravity where the scalar component plays the role of Quintessence. The consequences for supersymmetric DM candidates are briefly discussed.