Search

A search for long-lived particles decaying into muon pairs is performed using proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV, collected by the CMS experiment at the LHC in 2017 and 2018, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 101 fb−1. The data sets used in this search were collected with a dedicated dimuon trigger stream with low transverse momentum thresholds, recorded at high rate by retaining a reduced amount of information, in order to explore otherwise inaccessible phase space at low dimuon mass and nonzero displacement from the primary interaction vertex. No significant excess of events beyond the standard model expectation is found. Upper limits on branching fractions at 95% confidence level are set on a wide range of mass and lifetime hypotheses in beyond the standard model frameworks with the Higgs boson decaying into a pair of long-lived dark photons, or with a long-lived scalar resonance arising from a decay of a b hadron. The limits are the most stringent to date for substantial regions of the parameter space. These results can be also used to constrain models of displaced dimuons that are not explicitly considered in this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present a cosmological solution to the electroweak hierarchy problem. After discussing general features of cosmological approaches to naturalness, we extend the Standard Model with two light scalars very weakly coupled to the Higgs and present the mechanism, which we recently introduced in a companion paper to explain jointly the electroweak hierarchy and the strong-CP problem. In this work we show that this solution can be decoupled from the strong-CP problem and discuss its possible implementations and phenomenology. The mechanism works with any standard inflationary sector, it does not require weak-scale inflation or a large number of e-folds, and does not introduce ambiguities related to eternal inflation. The cutoff of the theory can be as large as the Planck scale, both for the Cosmological Constant and for the Higgs sector. Reproducing the observed dark matter relic density fixes the couplings of the two new scalars to the Standard Model, offering a target to future axion or fifth force searches. Depending on the specific interaction of the scalars with the Standard Model, the mechanism either yields rich phenomenology at colliders or provides a novel joint solution to the strong-CP problem. We highlight what predictions are common to most realizations of cosmological selection of the weak scale and will allow to test this general framework in the near future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

If dark matter (DM) interacts with the Standard Model (SM) via the kinetic mixing (KM) portal, it necessitates the existence of portal matter (PM) particles which carry both dark and SM quantum numbers that will appear in vacuum polarization-like loop graphs. In addition to the familiar ∼ eϵQ strength, QED-like interaction for the dark photon (DP), in some setups different loop graphs of these PM states can also induce other coupling structures for the SM fermions that may come to dominate in at least some regions of parameter space regions and which can take the form of 'dark' moments, e.g., magnetic dipole-type interactions in the IR, associated with a large mass scale, Λ. In this paper, motivated by a simple toy model, we perform a phenomenological investigation of a possible loop-induced dark magnetic dipole moment for SM fermions, in particular, for the electron. We show that at the phenomenological level such a scenario can not only be made compatible with existing experimental constraints for a significant range of correlated values for Λ and the dark U(1)D gauge coupling, gD, but can also lead to quantitatively different signatures once the DP is discovered. In this setup, assuming complex scalar DM to satisfy CMB constraints, parameter space regions where the DP decays invisibly are found to be somewhat preferred if PM mass limits from direct searches at the LHC and our toy model setup are all taken seriously. High precision searches for, or measurements of, the e+e− → γ + DP process at Belle II are shown to provide some of the strongest future constraints on this scenario. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Higgs doublet can mediate a long-range interaction between multi-TeV particles coupled to the Weak interactions of the Standard Model, while its emission can lead to very rapid bound-state formation processes and bound-to-bound transitions. Using the rates calculated in a companion paper, here we compute the thermal decoupling of multi-TeV WIMP dark matter coupled to the Higgs, and show that the formation of metastable dark matter bound states via Higgs-doublet emission and their decay decrease the relic density very significantly. This in turn implies that WIMP dark matter may be much heavier than previously anticipated, or conversely that for a given mass, the dark matter couplings to the Higgs may be much lower than previously predicted, thereby altering the dark matter phenomenology. While we focus on a minimal singlet-doublet model in the coannihilation regime, our calculations can be extended to larger multiplets where the effects under consideration are expected to be even more significant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The asymmetric dark matter (ADM) scenario solves the baryon-dark matter coincidence problem when the dark matter (DM) mass is of O 1 GeV. Composite ADM models based on QCD-like strong dynamics are particularly motivated since the strong dynamics naturally provides the DM mass of O 1 GeV and the large annihilation cross-section simultaneously. In those models, the sub-GeV dark photon often plays an essential role in transferring the excessive entropy in the dark sector into the visible sector, i.e., the Standard Model sector. This paper constructs a chiral composite ADM model where the U(1)D gauge symmetry is embedded into the chiral flavor symmetry. Due to the dynamical breaking of the chiral flavor symmetry, the model naturally provides the masses of the dark photon and the dark pions in the sub-GeV range, both of which play crucial roles for a successful ADM model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We study the possibility that Dark Matter (DM) is made of Feebly Interacting Massive Particles (FIMP) interacting just gravitationally with the Standard Model particles in the framework of a Clockwork/Linear Dilaton (CW/LD) model. We restrict here to the case in which the DM particles are scalar fields. This paper extends our previous study of FIMP's in Randall-Sundrum (RS) warped extra-dimensions. As it was the case in the RS scenario, also in the CW/LD model we find a significant region of the parameter space in which the observed DM relic abundance can be reproduced with scalar DM mass in the MeV range, with a reheating temperature varying from 10 GeV to 109 GeV. We comment on the similarities of the results in both extra-dimensional models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A pseudo Nambu-Goldstone boson (pNGB) is a natural candidate of dark matter in that it avoids the severe direct detection bounds. We show in this paper that the pNGB has another different and interesting face with a higher symmetry breaking scale. Such large symmetry breaking is motivated by various physics beyond the standard model. In this case, the pNGB interaction is suppressed due to the Nambu-Goldstone property and the freeze-out production does not work even with sufficiently large portal coupling. We then study the pNGB dark matter relic abundance from the out-of-equilibrium production via feeble Higgs portal coupling. Further, a possibility is pursued the symmetry breaking scalar in the pNGB model plays the role of inflaton. The inflaton and dark matter are unified in a single field and the pNGB production from inflaton decay is inevitable. For these non-thermally produced relic abundance of pNGB dark matter and successful inflation, we find that the dark matter mass should be less than a few GeV in the wide range of the reheating temperature and the inflaton mass. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

If neutrinos are Dirac fermions, certain new physics beyond the standard model should exist to account for the smallness of neutrino mass. With two additional scalars and a heavy intermediate fermion, in this paper, we systematically study the general mechanism that can naturally generate the tiny Dirac neutrino mass at tree and in one-loop level. For tree level models, we focus on natural ones, in which the additional scalars develop small vacuum expectation values without fine-tuning. For one-loop level models, we explore those having dark matter candidates under Z symmetry. In both cases, we concentrate on SU(2) multiplet scalars no larger than quintuplet, and derive the complete sets of viable models. Phenomenologies, such as lepton flavor violation, leptogenesis, DM and LHC signatures are briefly discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Electron positron collisions are a very promising environment to search for new physics, and in particular for dark sector related observables. The most challenging experimental problem in detecting dark sector candidates is the very high associated Standard Model background. For this reason it is important to identify observables that are, at the same time, minimally suppressed in the dark sector and highly suppressed in the Standard Model. One example is the e+e− → 3(e+e−) process that can be mediated either by the production and subsequent decay of dark Higgs (h′), e+e− → A′h′ → 6e [1] or produced by the Standards Model process e+e− → 3(e+e−). In the following letter we study the relative contribution to observed e+e− → 3(e+e−) total cross section, coming from the h′ mediated and from the Standard Model processes in the contest of fixed target and low energy collider experiments, with particular attention to the PADME experiment at the INFN Laboratori Nazionali di Frascati. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A search for dark matter particles is performed using events with a pair of W bosons and large missing transverse momentum. Candidate events are selected by requiring one or two leptons (ℓ = electrons or muons). The analysis is based on proton-proton collision data collected at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV by the CMS experiment at the LHC and corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 138 fb−1. No significant excess over the expected standard model background is observed in the ℓνqq and 2ℓ2ν final states of the W+W− boson pair. Limits are set on dark matter production in the context of a simplified dark Higgs model, with a dark Higgs boson mass above the W+W− mass threshold. The dark matter phase space is probed in the mass range 100–300 GeV, extending the scope of previous searches. Current exclusion limits are improved in the range of dark Higgs masses from 160 to 250 GeV, for a dark matter mass of 200 GeV. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Light Dark Matter eXperiment (LDMX) is an electron-beam fixed-target experiment designed to achieve comprehensive model independent sensitivity to dark matter particles in the sub-GeV mass region. An upgrade to the LCLS-II accelerator will increase the beam energy available to LDMX from 4 to 8 GeV. Using detailed GEANT4-based simulations, we investigate the effect of the increased beam energy on the capabilities to separate signal and background, and demonstrate that the veto methodology developed for 4 GeV successfully rejects photon-induced backgrounds for at least 2 × 1014 electrons on target at 8 GeV. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present a new model that extends the Standard Model (SM) with the local B + L symmetry, and point out that the lightest new fermion ζ, introduced to cancel anomalies and stabilized automatically by the B + L symmetry, can serve as the cold dark matter candidate. We study constraints on the model from Higgs measurements, electroweak precision measurements as well as the relic density and direct detections of the dark matter. Numerical results reveal that the pseudo-vector coupling of ζ with Z and the Yukawa coupling with the SM Higgs are highly constrained by the latest results of LUX, while there are viable parameter space that could satisfy all the constraints and give testable predictions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dark Matter could be a composite state of a confining sector with an approximate scale symmetry. We consider the case where the associated pseudo-Goldstone boson, the dilaton, mediates its interactions with the Standard Model. When the confining phase transition in the early universe is supercooled, its dynamics allows for Dark Matter masses up to 106 TeV. We derive the precise parameter space compatible with all experimental constraints, finding that this scenario can be tested partly by telescopes and entirely by gravitational waves. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We study a simplified model of flavoured Majorana dark matter in the Dark Minimal Flavour Violation framework. The model extends the Standard Model by a dark matter flavour triplet and a scalar mediator, through which the new dark fermions couple to right-handed up-type quarks. This interaction is governed by a new coupling matrix λ which is assumed to constitute the only new source of flavour and CP violation. We analyse the parameter space of this model by using constraints from collider searches, D0− D ¯ 0 mixing, cosmology and direct dark matter searches. Throughout our study, we point out crucial differences between the Majorana and Dirac dark matter cases. After performing a combined analysis within the context of all the experimental constraints mentioned above, we analyse which flavour for the dark matter particle is preferred by experimental data. We further investigate if this model is capable of explaining the large measured value of the direct CP asymmetry ∆ A CP dir in charm decays. We find that significant enhancements with respect to the Standard Model expectation are compatible with all constraints, and even the central value of the measurement can be reached. We also advertise the flavour-violating final state with two same-sign top quarks produced in association with missing transverse energy as a smoking-gun signature for flavoured Majorana dark matter at the LHC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We propose a scenario that the Electroweak-Skyrmion, a solitonic object made of the Higgs field and the electroweak gauge fields, is identified as an asymmetric dark matter. In this scenario, the relic abundance of the dark matter is related to the baryon asymmetry of the Universe through a sphaleron-like process. We show that the observed ratio of dark matter abundance to the baryon asymmetry can be explained by this scenario with an appropriate choice of model parameters that is allowed by currently available experimental constraints. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The measured branching fractions of B-mesons into leptonic final states derived by the LHCb, Belle and BaBar collaborations hint towards the breakdown of lepton flavour universality. In this work we take at face value the so-called R D ∗ observables that are defined as the ratios of neutral B-meson charged-current decays into a D(*)-meson, a charged lepton and a neutrino final state in the tau and light lepton channels. A well-studied and simple solution to this charged current anomaly is to introduce a scalar leptoquark S1 that couples to the second and third generation of fermions. We investigate how S1 can also serve as a mediator between the Standard Model and a dark sector. We study this scenario in detail and estimate the constraints arising from collider searches for leptoquarks, collider searches for missing energy signals, direct detection experiments and the dark matter relic abundance. We stress that the production of a pair of leptoquarks that decays into different final states (i.e. the commonly called "mixed" channels) provides critical information for identifying the underlying dynamics, and we exemplify this by studying the tτbν and the resonant S1 plus missing energy channels. We find that direct detection data provides non-negligible constraints on the leptoquark coupling to the dark sector, which in turn affects the relic abundance. We also show that the correct relic abundance can not only arise via standard freeze-out, but also through conversion-driven freeze-out. We illustrate the rich phenomenology of the model with a few selected benchmark points, providing a broad stroke of the interesting connection between lepton flavour universality violation and dark matter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The goal of this work is to find the simplest UV completion of Accidental Composite Dark Matter Models (ACDM) that can dynamically generate an asymmetry for the DM candidate, the lightest dark baryon (DCb), and simultaneously annihilate the symmetric component. In this framework the DCb is a bound state of a confining SU(N)DC gauge group, and can interact weakly with the visible sector. The constituents of the DCb can possess non-trivial charges under the Standard Model gauge group. The generation of asymmetry for such candidate is a two-flavor variation of the out-of-equilibrium decay of a heavy scalar, with mass Mϕ ≳ 1010 GeV. Below the scale of the scalars, the models recover accidental stability, or long-livedness, of the DM candidate. The symmetric component is annihilated by residual confined interactions provided that the mass of the DCb mDCb ≲ 75 TeV. We implement the mechanism of asymmetry generation, or a variation of it, in all the original ACDM models, managing to generate the correct asymmetry for DCb of masses in this range. For some of the models found, the stability of the DM candidate is not spoiled even considering generic GUT completions or asymmetry generation mechanisms in the visible sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We explore a simple extension to the Standard Model containing two gauge singlets: a Dirac fermion and a real pseudoscalar. In some regions of the parameter space both singlets are stable without the necessity of additional symmetries, then becoming a possible two-component dark matter model. We study the relic abundance production via freeze-out, with the latter determined by annihilations, conversions and semi-annihilations. Experimental constraints from invisible Higgs decay, dark matter relic abundance and direct/indirect detection are studied. We found three viable regions of the parameter space, and the model is sensitive to indirect searches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We study gamma-ray line signatures from electroweakly interacting non-abelian spin-1 dark matter (DM). In this model, Z2-odd spin-1 particles including a DM candidate have the SU(2)L triplet-like features, and the Sommerfeld enhancement is relevant in the annihilation processes. We derive the annihilation cross sections contributing to the photon emission and compare with the SU(2)L triplet fermions, such as Wino DM in the supersymmetric Standard Model. The Sommerfeld enhancement factor is approximately the same in both systems, while our spin-1 DM predicts the larger annihilation cross sections into γγ/Zγ modes than those of the Wino by 38 9 . This is because a spin-1 DM pair forms not only J = 0 but also J = 2 partial wave states where J denotes the total spin angular momentum. Our spin-1 DM also has a new annihilation mode into Z2-even extra heavy vector and photon, Z′γ. For this mode, the photon energy depends on the masses of DM and the heavy vector, and thus we have a chance to probe the mass spectrum. The latest gamma-ray line search in the Galactic Center region gives a strong constraint on our spin-1 DM. We can probe the DM mass for ≲ 25.3 TeV by the Cherenkov Telescope Array experiment even if we assume a conservative DM density profile. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We calculate the one-loop correction to the static potential induced by γ, W and Z-exchange at tree-level for arbitrary heavy standard model multiplets. We find that the result obeys a "Casimir-like" scaling, making the NLO correction to the potential a "low-energy" property of the electroweak gauge bosons. Furthermore, we discuss the phenomenology of the NLO potentials, the analytically known asymptotic limits and provide fitting functions in position space for easy use of the results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Higgs invisible decay width may soon become a powerful tool to probe extensions of the Standard Model with dark matter candidates at the Large Hadron Collider. In this work, we calculate the next-to-leading order (NLO) electroweak corrections to the 125 GeV Higgs decay width into two dark matter particles. The model is the next-to-minimal 2-Higgs-doublet model (N2HDM) in the dark doublet phase, that is, only one doublet and the singlet acquire vacuum expectation values. We show that the present measurement of the Higgs invisible branching ratio, BR(H → invisible < 0.11), does not lead to constraints on the parameter space of the model at leading order. This is due to the very precise measurements of the Higgs couplings but could change in the near future. Furthermore, if NLO corrections are required not to be unphysically large, no limits on the parameter space can be extracted from the NLO results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A light hidden photon or axion-like particle is a good dark matter candidate and they are often associated with the spontaneous breaking of dark global or gauged U(1) symmetry. We consider the dark Higgs dynamics around the phase transition in detail taking account of the portal coupling between the dark Higgs and the Standard Model Higgs as well as various thermal effects. We show that the (would-be) Nambu-Goldstone bosons are efficiently produced via a parametric resonance with the resonance parameter q ∼ 1 at the hidden symmetry breaking. In the simplest setup, which predicts a second order phase transition, this can explain the dark matter abundance for the axion or hidden photon as light as sub eV. Even lighter mass, as predicted by the QCD axion model, can be consistent with dark matter abundance in the case of first order phase transition, in which case the gravitational wave signals may be detectable by future experiments such as LISA and DECIGO. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pseudo Nambu-Goldstone bosons (pNGBs) are attractive dark matter (DM) candidates, since they couple to the Standard Model (SM) predominantly through derivative interactions. Thereby they naturally evade the strong existing limits inferred from DM direct detection experiments. Working in an effective field theory that includes both derivative and non-derivative DM-SM operators, we perform a detailed phenomenological study of the Large Hadron Collider reach for pNGB DM production in association with top quarks. Drawing on motivated benchmark scenarios as examples, we compare our results to other collider limits as well as the constraints imposed by DM (in) direct detection experiments and the relic abundance. We furthermore explore implications on the viable parameter space of pNGB DM. In particular, we demonstrate that DM direct detection experiments become sensitive to many pNGB DM realisations once loop-induced interactions are taken into account. The search strategies and pNGB DM benchmark models that we discuss can serve as a starting point for dedicated experimental analyses by the ATLAS and the CMS collaborations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We assess the status of past and future experiments on lepton flavor violating (LFV) muon and tau decays into a light, invisible, axion-like particle (ALP), a. We propose a new experimental setup for MEG II, the MEGII-fwd, with a forward calorimeter placed downstream from the muon stopping target. Searching for μ → ea decays MEGII-fwd is maximally sensitive to LFV ALPs, if these have nonzero couplings to right-handed leptons. The experimental set-up suppresses the (left-handed) Standard Model background in the forward direction by controlling the polarization purity of the muon beam. The reach of MEGII-fwd is compared with the present constraints, the reach of Mu3e and the Belle-II reach from τ → ℓa decays. We show that a dedicated experimental campaign for LFV muon decays into ALPs at MEG II and Mu3e will be able to probe the ALP parameter space in an unexplored region well beyond the existing astrophysical constraints. We study the implications of these searches for representative LFV ALP models, where the presence of a light ALP is motivated by neutrino masses, the strong CP problem and/or the SM flavor puzzle. To this extent we discuss the majoron in low-scale seesaw setups and introduce the LFV QCD axion, the LFV axiflavon and the leptonic familon, paying particular attention to the cases where the LFV ALPs constitute cold dark matter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Fermilab Muon g −2 experiment recently reported its first measurement of the anomalous magnetic moment a μ FNAL , which is in full agreement with the previous BNL measurement and pushes the world average deviation ∆ a μ 2021 from the Standard Model to a significance of 4.2σ. Here we provide an extensive survey of its impact on beyond the Standard Model physics. We use state-of-the-art calculations and a sophisticated set of tools to make predictions for aμ, dark matter and LHC searches in a wide range of simple models with up to three new fields, that represent some of the few ways that large ∆aμ can be explained. In addition for the particularly well motivated Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model, we exhaustively cover the scenarios where large ∆aμ can be explained while simultaneously satisfying all relevant data from other experiments. Generally, the aμ result can only be explained by rather small masses and/or large couplings and enhanced chirality flips, which can lead to conflicts with limits from LHC and dark matter experiments. Our results show that the new measurement excludes a large number of models and provides crucial constraints on others. Two-Higgs doublet and leptoquark models provide viable explanations of aμ only in specific versions and in specific parameter ranges. Among all models with up to three fields, only models with chirality enhancements can accommodate aμ and dark matter simultaneously. The MSSM can simultaneously explain aμ and dark matter for Bino-like LSP in several coannihilation regions. Allowing under abundance of the dark matter relic density, the Higgsino- and particularly Wino-like LSP scenarios become promising explanations of the aμ result. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present a minimal extension of the left-right symmetric model based on the gauge group SU(3)c× SU(2)L× SU(2)R× U(1)B−L× U(1)X, in which a vector-like fermion pair (ζL and ζR) charged under the U(1)B−L× U(1)X symmetry is introduced. Associated with the symmetry breaking of the gauge group SU(2)R× U(1)B−L× U(1)X down to the Standard Model (SM) hypercharge U(1)Y, Majorana masses for ζL,R are generated and the lightest mass eigenstate plays a role of the dark matter (DM) in our universe by its communication with the SM particles through a new neutral gauge boson "X". We consider various phenomenological constraints of this DM scenario, such as the observed DM relic density, the LHC Run-2 constraints from the search for a narrow resonance, and the perturbativity of the gauge couplings below the Planck scale. Combining all constraints, we identify the allowed parameter region which turns out to be very narrow. A significant portion of the currently allowed parameter region will be tested by the High-Luminosity LHC experiments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, we have witnessed two hints of physics beyond the standard model: a 3.3σ local excess ( M A 0 = 52 GeV) in the search for H0 → A0A0 → b b ¯ μ+μ− and a 4.2σ deviation from the SM prediction in the (g − 2)μ measurement. The first excess was found by the ATLAS collaboration using 139 fb−1 data at s = 13 TeV. The second deviation is a combination of the results from the Brookhaven E821 and the recently reported Fermilab E989 experiment. We attempt to explain these deviations in terms of a renormalizable simplified dark matter model. Inspired by the null signal result from dark matter (DM) direct detection, we interpret the possible new particle, A0, as a pseudoscalar mediator connecting DM and the standard model. On the other hand, a new vector-like muon lepton can explain these two excesses at the same time while contributing to the DM phenomenology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many minimal models of dark matter (DM) or canonical solutions to the hierarchy problem are either excluded or severely constrained by LHC and direct detection null results. In particular, Higgs Portal Dark Matter (HPDM) features a scalar coupling to the Higgs via a quartic interaction, and obtaining the measured relic density via thermal freeze-out gives definite direct detection predictions which are now almost entirely excluded. The Twin Higgs solves the little hierarchy problem without coloured top partners by introducing a twin sector related to the Standard Model (SM) by a discrete symmetry. We generalize HPDM to arbitrary Twin Higgs models and introduce Twin Higgs Portal Dark Matter (THPDM), which features a DM candidate with an SU(4)-invariant quartic coupling to the Twin Higgs scalar sector. Given the size of quadratic corrections to the DM mass, its most motivated scale is near the mass of the radial mode. In that case, DM annihilation proceeds with the full Twin Higgs portal coupling, while direct detection is suppressed by the pNGB nature of the 125 GeV Higgs. For a standard cosmological history, this results in a predicted direct detection signal for THPDM that is orders of magnitude below that of HPDM with very little dependence on the precise details of the twin sector, evading current bounds but predicting possible signals at next generation experiments. In many Twin Higgs models, twin radiation contributions to ∆Neff are suppressed by an asymmetric reheating mechanism. We study this by extending the νMTH and X MTH models to include THPDM and compute the viable parameter space according to the latest CMB bounds. The injected entropy dilutes the DM abundance as well, resulting in additional suppression of direct detection below the neutrino floor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Observation of high energy cosmic neutrinos by ICECUBE has ushered in a new era in exploring both cosmos and new physics beyond the Standard Model (SM). In the standard picture, although mostly νμ and νe are produced in the source, oscillation will produce ντen route. Certain beyond SM scenarios, like interaction with ultralight DM can alter this picture. Thus, the flavor composition of the cosmic neutrino flux can open up the possibility of exploring certain beyond the SM scenarios that are inaccessible otherwise. We show that the τ flavor holds a special place among the neutrino flavors in elucidating new physics. Interpreting the two anomalous events observed by ANITA as ντ events makes the tau flavor even more intriguing. We study how the detection of the two tau events by ICECUBE constrains the interaction of the neutrinos with ultralight dark matter and discuss the implications of this interaction for even higher energy cosmic neutrinos detectable by future radio telescopes such as ARA, ARIANNA and GRAND. We also revisit the 3 + 1 neutrino scheme as a solution to the two anomalous ANITA events and clarify a misconception that exists in the literature about the evolution of high energy neutrinos in matter within the 3 + 1 scheme with a possibility of scattering off nuclei. We show that the existing bounds on the flux of ντ with energy of EeV rules out this solution for the ANITA events. We show that the 3 + 1 solution can be saved from both this bound and from the bound on the extra relativistic degrees of freedom in the early universe by turning on the interaction of neutrinos with ultralight dark matter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present an effective field theory describing the relevant interactions of the Standard Model with an electrically neutral particle that can account for the dark matter in the Universe. The possible mediators of these interactions are assumed to be heavy. The dark matter candidates that we consider have spin 0, 1/2 or 1, belong to an electroweak multiplet with arbitrary isospin and hypercharge and their stability at cosmological scales is guaranteed by imposing a ℤ2 symmetry. We present the most general framework for describing the interaction of the dark matter with standard particles, and construct a general non-redundant basis of the gauge-invariant operators up to dimension six. The basis includes multiplets with non-vanishing hypercharge, which can also be viable DM candidates. We give two examples illustrating the phenomenological use of such a general effective framework. First, we consider the case of a scalar singlet, provide convenient semi-analytical expressions for the relevant dark matter observables, use present experimental data to set constraints on the Wilson coefficients of the operators, and show how the interplay of different operators can open new allowed windows in the parameter space of the model. Then we study the case of a lepton isodoublet, which involves coannihilation processes, and we discuss the impact of the operators on the particle mass splitting and direct detection cross sections. These examples highlight the importance of the contribution of the various non-renormalizable operators, which can even dominate over the gauge interactions in certain cases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We propose a 3+1 Higgs Doublet Model based on the ∆(27) family symmetry supplemented by several auxiliary cyclic symmetries leading to viable Yukawa textures for the Standard Model fermions, consistent with the observed pattern of fermion masses and mixings. The charged fermion mass hierarchy and the quark mixing pattern is generated by the spontaneous breaking of the discrete symmetries due to flavons that act as Froggatt-Nielsen fields. The tiny neutrino masses arise from a radiative seesaw mechanism at one loop level, thanks to a preserved Z 2 1 discrete symmetry, which also leads to stable scalar and fermionic dark matter candidates. The leptonic sector features the predictive cobimaximal mixing pattern, consistent with the experimental data from neutrino oscillations. For the scenario of normal neutrino mass hierarchy, the model predicts an effective Majorana neutrino mass parameter in the range 3 meV ≲ mββ ≲ 18 meV, which is within the declared range of sensitivity of modern experiments. The model predicts Flavour Changing Neutral Currents which constrain the model, for instance, μ→e nuclear conversion processes and Kaon mixing are found to be within the reach of the forthcoming experiments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We explore relativistic freeze-in production of scalar dark matter in gauged B − L model, where we focus on the production of dark matter from the decay and annihilation of Standard Model (SM) and B − L Higgs bosons. We consider the Bose-Einstein (BE) and Fermi-Dirac (FD) statistics, along with the thermal mass correction of the SM Higgs boson in our analysis. We show that in addition to the SM Higgs boson, the annihilation and decay of the B − L scalar can also contribute substantially to the dark matter relic density. Potential effects of electroweak symmetry breaking (EWSB) and thermal mass correction in BE framework enhance the dark matter relic substantially as it freezes-in near EWSB temperature via scalar annihilation. However, such effects are not so prominent when the dark matter freezes-in at a later epoch than EWSB, dominantly by decay of scalars. The results of this analysis are rather generic, and applicable to other similar scenarios. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dark sectors with purely gravitational couplings to the Standard Model are unavoidably populated from the SM plasma by graviton exchange, and naturally provide dark matter candidates. We examine the production in the relativistic regime where the dark sector is approximately scale invariant, providing general analytical formulas that depend solely on the central charge of the dark sector. We then assess the relevance of interactions that can lead to a variety of phenomena including thermalisation, non-perturbative mass gaps, out-of-equilibrium phase transitions and cannibalism in the dark sector. As an illustrative example we consider the dark glueball scenario in this light and show it to be a viable dark matter candidate due to the suppression of gravitational production. We go on to extend these results to strongly coupled CFTs and their holographic duals at large-N with the dark dilaton as the dark matter candidate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We consider a novel mechanism to realize exothermic dark matter with dark mesons in the limit of approximate flavor symmetry in a dark QCD. We introduce a local dark U(1)′ symmetry to communicate between dark mesons and the Standard Model via Z′ portal by partially gauging the dark flavor symmetry with flavor-dependent charges for cancelling chiral anomalies in the dark sector. After the dark local U(1)′ is broken spontaneously by the VEV of a dark Higgs, there appear small mass splittings between dark quarks, consequently, leading to small split masses for dark mesons, required to explain the electron recoil excess in XENON1T by the inelastic scattering between dark mesons and electron. We propose a concrete benchmark model for split dark mesons based on SU(3)L× SU(3)R/SU(3)V flavor symmetry and SU(Nc) color group and show that there exists a parameter space making a better fit to the XENON1T data with two correlated peaks from exothermic processes and satisfying the correct relic density, current experimental and theoretical constraints. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dark matter is a well-established theoretical addition to the Standard Model supported by many observations in modern astrophysics and cosmology. In this context, the existence of weakly interacting massive particles represents an appealing solution to the observed thermal relic in the Universe. Indeed, a large experimental campaign is ongoing for the detection of such particles in the sub-GeV mass range. Adopting the benchmark scenario for light dark matter particles produced in the decay of a dark photon, with αD = 0.1 and mA′ = 3mχ, we study the potential of the SHiP experiment to detect such elusive particles through its Scattering and Neutrino detector (SND). In its 5-years run, corresponding to 2 · 1020 protons on target from the CERN SPS, we find that SHiP will improve the current limits in the mass range for the dark matter from about 1 MeV to 300 MeV. In particular, we show that SHiP will probe the thermal target for Majorana candidates in most of this mass window and even reach the Pseudo-Dirac thermal relic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Inelastic dark matter is an interesting scenario for light thermal dark matter which is fully consistent with all cosmological probes as well as direct and indirect dark matter detection. The required mass splitting between dark matter χ1 and its heavier twin χ2 is naturally induced by a dark Higgs field which also provides a simple mechanism to give mass to the dark photon A′ present in the setup. The corresponding dark Higgs boson h′ is naturally the lightest dark sector state and therefore decays into Standard Model particles via Higgs mixing. In this work we study signatures with displaced vertices and missing momentum at Belle II, arising from dark Higgs particles produced in association with dark matter. We find that Belle II can be very sensitive to this scenario, in particular if a displaced vertex trigger is available in the near future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dark matter (DM) constitutes 85% of the matter in the Universe. However, its specific particle property is still unclear. The fundamentals of DM particles subject to gravitational interaction, and that the lepton excess in cosmic rays may originate from DM particles, inspired us to investigate DM particle properties beyond the standard model. We assume that a leptophilic SU(2) doublet exists in nature as the mediator connecting DM with visible leptons. Since general relativity is not renormalizable at the quantum level, it should be regarded as an effective field theory's leading order term. One species of the next-to-leading-order term should be operators linear to the Ricci scalar and containing scalar fields, such as the Higgs field, scalar DM, or the newly introduced SU(2) scalar doublet. These operators can cause DM annihilation through gravity portals. We analyzed constraints from the cosmic antiproton flux, DM relic abundance, cosmic positron flux, cosmic microwave background, and direct detection experiments. The result shows that there is a vast parameter space that is compatible with current experiments. DM with a mass of electroweak scale is only allowed to annihilate into leptons. We further show that the purely gravitational DM better explains the DArk Matter Particle Explorer cosmic lepton excess. Our work provides a promising mechanism for DM particles to connect with standard model particles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examine the collider and dark matter phenomenology of the Standard Model extended by a hypercharge-zero SU(2) triplet scalar and gauge singlet scalar. In particular, we study the scenario where the singlet and triplet are both charged under a single ℤ2 symmetry. We find that such an extension is capable of generating the observed dark matter density, while also modifying the collider phenomenology such that the lower bound on the mass of the triplet is smaller than in minimal triplet scalar extensions to the Standard Model. A high triplet mass is in tension with the parameter space that leads to novel electroweak phase transitions in the early universe. Therefore, the lower triplet masses that are permitted in this extended model are of particular importance for the prospects of successful electroweak baryogenesis and the generation of gravitational waves from early universe phase transitions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We suggest a minimal model for GeV-scale Majorana Dark Matter (DM) coupled to the standard model lepton sector via a charged scalar singlet. We show that there is an anti-correlation between the spin-independent DM-Nucleus scattering cross section (σSI) and the DM relic density for parameters values allowed by various theoretical and experimental constraints. Moreover, we find that even when DM couplings are of order unity, σSI is below the current experimental bound but above the neutrino floor. Furthermore, we show that the considered model can be probed at high energy lepton colliders using e.g. the mono-Higgs production and same-sign charged Higgs pair production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The millicharged particle has become an attractive topic to probe physics beyond the Standard Model. In direct detection experiments, the parameter space of millicharged particles can be constrained from the atomic ionization process. In this work, we develop the relativistic impulse approximation (RIA) approach, which can duel with atomic many-body effects effectively, in the atomic ionization process induced by millicharged particles. The formulation of RIA in the atomic ionization induced by millicharged particles is derived, and the numerical calculations are obtained and compared with those from free electron approximation and equivalent photon approximation. Concretely, the atomic ionizations induced by mllicharged dark matter particles and millicharged neutrinos in high-purity germanium (HPGe) and liquid xenon (LXe) detectors are carefully studied in this work. The differential cross sections, reaction event rates in HPGe and LXe detectors, and detecting sensitivities on dark matter particle and neutrino millicharge in next-generation HPGe and LXe based experiments are estimated and calculated to give a comprehensive study. Our results suggested that the next-generation experiments would improve 2-3 orders of magnitude on dark matter particle millicharge δχ than the current best experimental bounds in direct detection experiments. Furthermore, the next-generation experiments would also improve 2-3 times on neutrino millicharge δν than the current experimental bounds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using the upper bound on the inelastic reaction cross-section implied by S-matrix unitarity, we derive the thermally averaged maximum dark matter (DM) annihilation rate for general k → 2 number-changing reactions, with k ≥ 2, taking place either entirely within the dark sector, or involving standard model fields. This translates to a maximum mass of the particle saturating the observed DM abundance, which, for dominantly s-wave annihilations, is obtained to be around 130 TeV, 1 GeV, 7 MeV and 110 keV, for k = 2, 3, 4 and 5, respectively, in a radiation dominated Universe, for a real or complex scalar DM stabilized by a minimal symmetry. For modified thermal histories in the pre-big bang nucleosynthesis era, with an intermediate period of matter domination, values of reheating temperature higher than O 200 GeV for k ≥ 4, O 1 TeV for k = 3 and O 50 TeV for k = 2 are strongly disfavoured by the combined requirements of unitarity and DM relic abundance, for DM freeze-out before reheating. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We propose a new viable outlook to the mixing between a singlet and a doublet leptonic dark sector fields. This choice relaxes the dark matter (DM) search constraints on the quintessential scalar singlet DM as well as presents new opportunities for its detection in the lab. The mixing produces an arbitrary mass difference between the two components of the extra doublet in a gauge-invariant way, without introducing any new scale of electroweak symmetry breaking in the theory. It also provides a useful handle to distinguish between the dark sector particles of different isospins, which is a challenging task other-wise. As the dark leptons coannihilate non-trivially, the mixing effectively enhances the viable parameter space for the relic density constraint. In low DM mass regime, our analysis shows that with a non-zero mixing, it is possible to relax the existing indirect search bounds on the upper limit of the DM-Standard Model coupling. From the analysis of the 3 τ + E T miss and ℓ τ + E T miss channels for LHC at s = 13 TeV, we show that one ensures the presence of the mixing parameter between the dark sector particles of the theory by looking at the peak and tail positions of the kinematic distributions. Even with a tweak in the values of other free parameters within the viable parameter region, the distinct peak and tail positions of the kinematic distributions remains a constant feature of the model. While both the channels present us the opportunity to detect the mixing signature at the LHC/HL-LHC, the former gives better results in terms of a larger region of mixing parameter. From the fiducial cross section, the projected statistical significance for the integrated luminosity, L = 3 ab−1, are shown for a combined parameter region obeying all the existing constraints, where there is the best possibility to detect such a signature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We study the freeze-in production of Feebly Interacting Massive Particle (FIMP) dark matter candidates through a neutrino portal. We consider a hidden sector comprised of a fermion and a complex scalar, with the lightest one regarded as a FIMP candidate. We implement the Type-I Seesaw mechanism for generating the masses of the Standard Model (SM) neutrinos by introducing three heavy neutrinos which are assumed to be degenerated, for simplicity, and are also responsible for mediating the interactions be- tween the hidden and the SM sectors. We assume that an early matter-dominated (EMD) era took place for some period between inflation and Big Bang Nucleosynthesis, making the Universe to expand faster than in the standard radiation-dominated era. In this case, the hidden and SM sectors are easily decoupled and larger couplings between FIMPs and SM particles are needed from the relic density constraints. In this context, we discuss the dynamics of dark matter throughout the modified cosmic history, evaluate the relevant constraints of the model and discuss the consequences of the duration of the EMD era for the dark matter production. Finally, we show that if the heavy neutrinos are not part of the thermal bath, this scenario becomes testable through indirect detection searches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigate neutrino mass generation scenarios where the lepton number breaking new physics does not interact with Standard Model (SM) quarks and couples only to the SM right-handed charged lepton chirality. The lowest-order lepton number violating effective operator which describes this framework is a unique dimension nine operator involving SM gauge fields, O 9 . We find that there are two possible classes of new physics scenarios giving rise to this O 9 operator. In these scenarios neutrino masses are induced radiatively via dark matter interactions, linking the dark matter to a natural explanation for the smallness of neutrino masses compared to the electroweak scale. We discuss the phenomenology and existing constraints in the different neutrino mass models within each class. In particular, we analyze the important interplay between neutrino mixing and neutrinoless double β-decay in order to predict characteristic signatures and disfavour certain scenarios. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The search for relativistic scattering signals of cosmogenic light dark matter at terrestrial detectors has received increasing attention as an alternative approach to probe dark-sector physics. Large-volume neutrino experiments are well motivated for searches of dark matter that interacts very weakly with Standard Model particles and/or that exhibits a small incoming flux. We perform a dedicated signal sensitivity study for a detector similar to the one proposed by the DUNE Collaboration for cosmogenic dark-matter signals resulting from a non-minimal multi-particle dark-sector scenario. The liquid argon time projection chamber technology adopted for the DUNE detectors is particularly suited for searching for complicated signatures owing to good measurement resolution and particle identification, as well as dE/dx measurements to recognize merged tracks. Taking inelastic boosted dark matter as our benchmark scenario that allows for multiple visible particles in the final state, we demonstrate that the DUNE far detectors have a great potential for probing scattering signals induced by relativistic light dark matter. Detector effects and backgrounds have been estimated and taken into account. Model-dependent and model-independent expected sensitivity limits for a DUNE-like detector are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We compute the cross-sections for the radiative capture of non-relativistic particles into bound states, in unbroken perturbative non-Abelian theories. We find that the formation of bound states via emission of a gauge boson can be significant for a variety of dark matter models that feature non-Abelian long-range interactions, including multi-TeV scale WIMPs, dark matter co-annihilating with coloured partners and hidden-sector models. Our results disagree with previous computations, on the relative sign of the Abelian and non-Abelian contributions. In particular, in the case of capture of a particle-antiparticle pair into its tightest bound state, we find that these contributions add up, rather than partially canceling each other. We apply our results to dark matter co-annihilating with particles transforming in the (anti)fundamental of SU(3)c, as is the case in degenerate stop-neutralino scenarios in the MSSM. We show that the radiative formation and decay of particle-antiparticle bound states can deplete the dark matter density by (40 - 240)%, for dark matter heavier than 500 GeV. This implies a larger mass difference between the co-annihilating particles, and allows for the dark matter to be as heavy as 3.3TeV. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The detection of coherent neutrino-nucleus scattering by the COHERENT collaboration has set on quantitative grounds the existence of an irreducible neutrino background in direct detection searches of Weakly Interacting Massive Dark Matter candidates. This background leads to an ultimate discovery limit for these experiments: a minimum Dark Matter interaction cross section below which events produced by the coherent neutrino scattering will mimic the Dark Matter signal, the so-called neutrino floor. In this work we study the modification of such neutrino floor induced by non-standard neutrino interactions within their presently allowed values by the global analysis of oscillation and COHERENT data. By using the full likelihood information of such global analysis we consistently account for the correlated effects of non-standard neutrino interactions both in the neutrino propagation in matter and in its interaction in the detector. We quantify their impact on the neutrino floor for five future experiments: DARWIN (Xe), ARGO (Ar), Super-CDMS HV (Ge and Si) and CRESST phase III (CaWO4). Quantitatively, we find that non-standard neutrino interactions allowed at the 3σ level can result in an increase of the neutrino floor of up to a factor ~ 5 with respect to the Standard Model expectations and impact the expected sensitivities of the ARGO, CRESST phase III and DARWIN experiments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We construct models with minimal field content that can simultaneously explain the muon g - 2 anomaly and give the correct dark matter relic abundance. These models fall into two general classes, whether or not the new fields couple to the Higgs. For the general structure of models without new Higgs couplings, we provide analytical expressions that only depend on the SU(2)L representation. These results allow to demonstrate that only few models in this class can simultaneously explain (g - 2)μ and account for the relic abundance. The experimental constraints and perturbativity considerations exclude all such models, apart from a few fine-tuned regions in the parameter space, with new states in the few 100 GeV range. In the models with new Higgs couplings, the new states can be parametrically heavier by a factor √1=yμ, with yμ the muon Yukawa coupling, resulting in masses for the new states in the TeV regime. At present these models are not well constrained experimentally, which we illustrate on two representative examples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We study a vector dark matter (VDM) model in which the dark sector couples to the Standard Model sector via a Higgs portal. If the portal coupling is small enough the VDM can be produced via the freeze-in mechanism. It turns out that the electroweak phase transition have a substantial impact on the prediction of the VDM relic density. We further assume that the dark Higgs boson which gives the VDM mass is so light that it can induce strong VDM self-interactions and solve the small-scale structure problems of the Universe. As illustrated by the latest LUX data, the extreme smallness of the Higgs portal coupling required by the freeze-in mechanism implies that the dark matter direct detection bounds are easily satisfied. However, the model is well constrained by the indirect detections of VDM from BBN, CMB, AMS-02, and diffuse γ/X-rays. Consequently, only when the dark Higgs boson mass is at most of $$ \mathcal{O} $$ (keV) does there exist a parameter region which leads to a right amount of VDM relic abundance and an appropriate VDM self-scattering while satisfying all other constraints simultaneously. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We have considered a model of Dark Minimal Flavour Violation (DMFV), in which a triplet of dark matter particles couple to right-handed up-type quarks via a heavy colour-charged scalar mediator. By studying a large spectrum of possible constraints, and assessing the entire parameter space using a Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC), we can place strong restrictions on the allowed parameter space for dark matter models of this type. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]