Zero-Range Effective Field Theory for Resonant Wino Dark Matter

ORAL

Abstract

The most dramatic ``Sommerfeld enhancements'' of neutral-wino-pair annihilation occur when the wino mass is tuned to near critical values where there is a zero-energy S-wave resonance at the neutral-wino-pair threshold. If the wino mass is larger than the critical value, the resonance is a wino-pair bound state. If the wino mass is near a critical value, low-energy winos can be described by a zero-range effective field theory in which the winos interact nonperturbatively through a contact interaction. The parameters of the zero-range effective field theory can be determined by matching wino scattering amplitudes calculated by solving the Schr\"odinger equation for a nonrelativistic effective field theory in which the winos interact nonperturbatively through a potential due to the exchange of weak gauge bosons. The power of the zero-range effective field theory is illustrated by calculating the rate for formation of the bound state in the collision of two neutral winos through the emission of two soft photons.

Authors

  • Evan Johnson

    Ohio State University

  • Eric Braaten

    Ohio State University, Ohio State Univ - Columbus

  • Hong Zhang

    Ohio State University