Unitarity in the non-relativistic regime and implications for dark matter

Abstract: Unitarity sets upper limits on partial-wave elastic and inelastic cross-sections, which are often violated by perturbative computations. We discuss the dynamics underlying these limits in the non-relativistic regime, namely long-range interactions, and show how the resummation of the 2-particle-irreducible diagrams arising from squaring inelastic processes unitarizes both elastic and inelastic cross-sections. We provide a simple prescription to obtain the unitarized cross-sections from those that do not include resummation of the squared inelastic processes. Our results are model-independent, apply to all partial waves, and affect elastic and inelastic cross-sections, with extensive implications for new physics scenarios, such as dark-matter freeze-out, indirect detection and self-interactions.