We carry out a model independent study of resonant photon scattering off dark matter (DM) particles. The DM particle ${\chi }_1$ can feature an electric or magnetic transition dipole moment which couples it with photons and a heavier neutral particle ${\chi }_2$. Resonant photon scattering then takes place at a special energy $E_{\gamma }^{\mathrm{res}}$ set by the masses of ${\chi }_1$ and ${\chi }_2$, with the width of the resonance set by the size of the transition dipole moment. We compute the constraints on the parameter space of the model from stellar energy losses, data from SN 1987A, the Lyman-$\alpha$ forest, big bang nucleosynthesis, electroweak precision measurements, and accelerator searches. We show that the velocity broadening of the resonance plays an essential role for the possibility of the detection of a spectral feature originating from resonant photon-DM scattering. Depending upon the particle setup and the DM surface mass density, the favored range of DM particle masses lies between tens of keV and a few MeV, while the resonant photon absorption energy is predicted to be between tens of keV and a few GeV.

• Received 6 November 2006

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.75.023521