Thermal dark matter with low-temperature reheating

Abstract We explore the production of thermal dark matter (DM) candidates (WIMPs, SIMPs, ELDERs and Cannibals) during cosmic reheating. Assuming a general parametrization for the scaling of the inflaton energy density and the standard model (SM) temperature, we study the requirements for kinetic and chemical DM freeze-out in a model-independent way. For each of the mechanisms, up to two solutions that fit the entire observed DM relic density exist, for a given reheating scenario and DM mass. As an example, we assume a simple particle physics model in which DM interacts with itself and with SM through contact interactions. We find that low-temperature reheating can accommodate a wider range of couplings and larger masses than those permitted in the usual instantaneous high-temperature reheating. This results in DM solutions for WIMPs reaching masses as high as 10 14 GeV, whereas for SIMPs and ELDERs, we can reach masses of 10 13 GeV. Interestingly, current experimental data already constrain the enlarged parameter space of these models with low-reheating temperatures. Next-generation experiments could further probe these scenarios.