We study the possibility to directly detect the boosted dark matter generated from the scatterings with high energetic cosmic particles, such as protons and electrons. As a concrete example, we consider the sub-GeV dark matter mediated by a $\mathrm{U}(1{)}_D$ gauge boson, which has a mixing with a $U(1{)}_Y$ gauge boson in the Standard Model. The enhanced kinetic energy of the light dark matter from the collision with the cosmic rays can recoil the target nucleus and electron in the underground direct detection experiments, transferring enough energy to them to be detectable. We show the impact of boosted dark matter with existing direct detection experiments as well as collider and beam-dump experiments.

• Received 13 July 2020
• Accepted 16 October 2020

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.102.095010

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Published by the American Physical Society