The predictivity of many nonthermal dark matter (DM) models is marred by the gravitational production background. Nevertheless, if the reheating temperature $T_R$ is low, the gravitationally produced relics can be diluted. We study the freeze-in dark matter production mechanism at temperatures below the dark matter mass. In this case, the coupling to the thermal bath has to be significant to account for the observed dark matter relic density. As a result, the direct DM detection experiments already probe such freeze-in models, excluding significant parts of parameter space.

We study freeze-in production of Higgs portal dark matter (DM) at temperatures far below the dark matter mass. The temperature of the Standard Model (SM) thermal bath may have never been high such that dark matter production via thermal emission has been Boltzmann-suppressed. This allows for a significant coupling between the Higgs field and DM, which is being probed by the direct DM detection experiments and invisible Higgs decay searches at the LHC. We delineate the corresponding parameter space in the Higgs portal framework with dark matter of spin 0, 1/2 and 1.

We consider an extension of the Standard Model that accounts for the muon g − 2 tension and neutrino masses and study in detail dark matter phenomenology. The model under consideration includes a WIMP and a FIMP scalar dark matter candidates and thus gives rise to two-component dark matter scenarios. We discuss different regimes and mechanisms of production, including the novel freeze-in semi-production, and show that the WIMP and FIMP together compose the observed relic density today. The presence of the extra scalar fields allows phase transitions of the first order. We examine the evolution of the vacuum state and discuss stochastic gravitational wave signals associated with the first-order phase transition. We show that the gravitational wave signals may be probed by future gravitational wave experiments which may serve as a complementary detection signal.

Dark matter freeze-in at stronger coupling is operative when the Standard Model (SM) bath temperature never exceeds the dark matter mass. An attractive feature of this scenario is that it can be probed by direct detection experiments as well as at the LHC. In this work, we show how the mechanism can be realized in a simple UV complete framework, emphasizing the role of the maximal temperature of the SM thermal bath. We demonstrate that the maximal temperature can coincide with the reheating temperature or be close to it such that dark matter production is always Boltzmann-suppressed. This possibility is realized, for example, if the inflaton decays primarily into feebly interacting right-handed neutrinos, which subsequently generate the SM thermal bath. In this case, the SM sector temperature remains constant over cosmological times prior to reheating.

We consider an extension of the Standard Model that explains the neutrino masses and has a rich dark matter phenomenology. The model has two dark matter candidates, a vector WIMP and a fermion FIMP, and the sum of their relic densities matches the total dark matter abundance. We extensively study the dark matter production mechanisms and its connection with the neutrino sector, together with various bounds from present and future experiments. The extra scalar field in the model may induce a first-order phase transition in the early Universe. We study the production of stochastic gravitational waves associated with the first-order phase transition. We show that the phase transition can be strong, and thus the model may satisfy one of the necessary conditions for a successful electroweak baryogenesis. Detectability of the phase transition-associated gravitational waves is also discussed.

High-Frequency Gravitational Waves (HFGWs) constitute a unique window on the early Universe as well as exotic astrophysical objects. While the current gravitational wave experiments are more dedicated to the low frequency regime, the graviton conversion into photons in a strong magnetic field constitutes a powerful tool to probe HFGWs. In this paper, we show that neutron stars, due to their extreme magnetic field, are a perfect laboratory to study the conversion of HFGWs into photons. Using realistic models for the galactic neutron star population, we calculate for the first time the expected photon flux induced by the conversion of an isotropic stochastic gravitational wave background in the magnetosphere of the ensemble of neutron stars present in the Milky Way. We compare this photon flux to the observed one from several telescopes and derive upper limits on the stochastic gravitational wave background in the frequency range 10⁸ Hz–10²⁵ Hz. We find our limits to be competitive in the frequency range 10⁸ Hz–10¹² Hz.