title: Analyzing the Discovery Potential for Light Dark Matter.
abstract: In this Letter, we determine the present status of sub-GeV thermal dark matter annihilating through standard model mixing, with special emphasis on interactions through the vector portal. Within representative simple models, we carry out a complete and precise calculation of the dark matter abundance and of all available constraints. We also introduce a concise framework for comparing different experimental approaches, and use this comparison to identify important ranges of dark matter mass and couplings to better explore in future experiments. The requirement that dark matter be a thermal relic sets a sharp sensitivity target for terrestrial experiments, and so we highlight complementary experimental approaches that can decisively reach this milestone sensitivity over the entire sub-GeV mass range.
authors.affiliation: Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, Waterloo, ON N2L 2Y5, Canada.
authors.forename: Eder
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Izaguirre
authors.affiliation: Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, Waterloo, ON N2L 2Y5, Canada.
authors.forename: Gordan
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Krnjaic
authors.affiliation: Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, Waterloo, ON N2L 2Y5, Canada.
authors.forename: Philip
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Schuster
authors.affiliation: Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, Waterloo, ON N2L 2Y5, Canada.
authors.forename: Natalia
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Toro