Inflationary Particle Production and Implications for WIMP Substructure

Abstract

We explore the observational consequences of resonant particle production during inflation, focusing on its impact on dark matter annihilation signals today. A transient burst of particle production generates localised features in the primordial power spectrum, enhancing the formation of compact small-scale dark matter structures known as prompt cusps. If dark matter consists of thermal WIMPs, the resulting small-scale structures substantially boost annihilation rates, leaving potentially detectable imprints in gamma-ray observations. Using 15 years of Fermi-LAT data targeting the Virgo cluster, we derive upper limits on the thermally averaged annihilation cross section $⟨\sigma v⟩$, connecting inflationary particle production in the early universe with present-day observations constraining dark matter annihilation.

Comments: 7 pages, 2 figures Matches the version accepted for publication in PRD