Observing a light dark matter beam with neutrino experiments

We consider the sensitivity of fixed-target neutrino experiments at the luminosity frontier to light stable states, such as those present in models of MeV-scale dark matter. To ensure the correct thermal relic abundance, such states must annihilate via light mediators, which in turn provide an access portal for direct production in colliders or fixed targets. Indeed, this framework endows the neutrino beams produced at fixed-target facilities with a companion "dark matter beam," which may be detected via an excess of elastic scattering events off electrons or nuclei in the (near-) detector. We study the high-luminosity proton fixed-target experiments at LSND and MiniBooNE, and determine that the ensuing sensitivity to light dark matter generally surpasses that of other direct probes. For scenarios with a kinetically-mixed Ud(1)' vector mediator of mass m(V), we find that a large volume of parameter space is excluded for m(DM) similar to 1-5 MeV, covering vector masses 2m(DM) less than or similar to m(V) less than or similar to m(eta) and a range of kinetic mixing parameters reaching as low as kappa similar to 10(-5). The corresponding MeV-scale dark matter scenarios motivated by an explanation of the galactic 511 keV line are thus strongly constrained.