Exciting Dark Matter and the INTEGRAL/SPI 511 keV signal

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  • 21 February 2007
Abstract
We propose a WIMP candidate with an ``excited state'' 1-2 MeV above the ground state, which may be collisionally excited and de-excites by e+e- pair emission. By converting its kinetic energy into pairs, such a particle could produce a substantial fraction of the 511 keV line observed by INTEGRAL/SPI in the inner Milky Way. Only a small fraction of the WIMPs are above threshold, and that fraction drops sharply with galactocentric radius, naturally yielding a radial cutoff, as observed. Even if the scattering probability in the inner kpc is << 1% per Hubble time, enough power is available to produce the ~3*10^42 pairs per second observed in the Galactic bulge. We specify the parameters of a complex scalar field designed to explain the INTEGRAL result, and find that it annihilates chiefly to e+e- and neutrinos, and freezes out with the correct relic density. We discuss possible observational consequences of this model.

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