Probing photophobic axion and relaxion dark matter

We investigate the interplay between early universe cosmology and dark matter direct detection, considering axion models with naturally suppressed couplings to photons. In the context of the cosmological relaxation of the electroweak scale, we focus on a scenario of relaxion dark matter, in which the relaxion field constitutes all the observed dark matter relic density and its allowed mass range is fixed to a few keV by construction. In particular, we show that a relaxion particle with mass m(phi) = 3.0 keV which couples to electrons with g(phi,e) = 6.8 x 10(-14) is consistent with the XENON1Texcess, while accounting for the observed dark matter and satisfying astro/cosmo probes. This scenario uses the electroweak scale as the link connecting the relaxion production at early times with the dark matter absorption rate in direct detection.

Automated summary

By investigating the interplay between early universe cosmology and dark matter direct detection, a scenario of relaxion dark matter model is proposed, using the electroweak scale as the link connecting relaxion production at early times with the dark matter absorption rate in direct detection.