Updated constraints on self-interacting dark matter from Supernova 1987A

We revisit SN1987A constraints on light, hidden sector gauge bosons (“dark photons”) that are coupled to the standard model through kinetic mixing with the photon. These constraints are realized because excessive bremsstrahlung radiation of the dark photon can lead to rapid cooling of the SN1987A progenitor core, in contradiction to the observed neutrinos from that event. The models we consider are of interest as phenomenological models of strongly self-interacting dark matter. We clarify several possible ambiguities in the literature and identify errors in prior analyses. We find constraints on the dark photon mixing parameter that are in rough agreement with the early estimates of Dent et al. [arXiv:1201.2683.], but only because significant errors in their analyses fortuitously canceled. Our constraints are in good agreement with subsequent analyses by Rrapaj & Reddy [Phys. Rev. C 94, 045805 (2016).] and Hardy & Lasenby [J. High Energy Phys. 02 (2017) 33.]. We estimate the dark photon bremsstrahlung rate using one-pion exchange (OPE), while Rrapaj & Reddy use a soft radiation approximation (SRA) to exploit measured nuclear scattering cross sections. We find that the differences between mixing parameter constraints obtained through the OPE approximation or the SRA approximation are roughly a factor of ~2–3. Hardy & Laseby [J. High Energy Phys. 02 (2017) 33.] include plasma effects in their calculations finding significantly weaker constraints on dark photon mixing for dark photon masses below ~10 MeV. We do not consider plasma effects. Lastly, we point out that the properties of the SN1987A progenitor core remain somewhat uncertain and that this uncertainty alone causes uncertainty of at least a factor of ~2–3 in the excluded values of the dark photon mixing parameter. Further refinement of these estimates is unwarranted until either the interior of the SN1987A progenitor is more well understood or additional, large, and heretofore neglected effects, such as the plasma interactions studied by Hardy & Lasenby [J. High Energy Phys. 02 (2017) 33.], are identified.