Search

This paper presents a search for a new Z′ resonance decaying into a pair of dark quarks which hadronise into dark hadrons before promptly decaying back as Standard Model particles. This analysis is based on proton-proton collision data recorded at s = 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider between 2015 and 2018, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 139 fb−1. After selecting events containing large-radius jets with high track multiplicity, the invariant mass distribution of the two highest-transverse-momentum jets is scanned to look for an excess above a data-driven estimate of the Standard Model multijet background. No significant excess of events is observed and the results are thus used to set 95% confidence-level upper limits on the production cross-section times branching ratio of the Z′ to dark quarks as a function of the Z′ mass for various dark-quark scenarios. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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]

In this paper, we analyze the cosmological evolution, allowed parameter space, and observational prospects for a dark sector consisting of thermally produced pseudo-Dirac fermions with a small mass splitting, coupled to the Standard Model through a dark photon. This scenario is particularly notable in the context of sub-GeV dark matter, where the mass-off-diagonal leading interaction limits applicability of both CMB energy injection constraints and standard direct detection searches. We present the first general study of the thermal history of pseudo-Dirac DM with splittings from 100 eV to MeV, focusing on the depletion of the heavier "excited" state abundance via scatterings and decays, and on the distinctive signals arising from its small surviving abundance. We analyze CMB energy injection bounds on both DM annihilation and decay, accelerator-based probes, and new line-like direct-detection signals from the excited DM down-scattering on either nuclei or electrons, as well as future search prospects in each channel. We also comment on the relevance of this signal to the few-keV Xenon1T electron excess and on possible diurnal modulation of this signal, and introduce a signal-strength parametrization to facilitate the comparison of future experimental results to theoretical expectations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As experimental searches for WIMP dark matter continue to yield null results, models beyond the WIMP paradigm have proliferated in order to elude ever improving observational constraints, among them that of sub-GeV dark matter mediated by a massive vector portal (a dark photon) associated with a new dark U(1) gauge symmetry. It has been previously noted that for a significant range of the parameter space of this class of models, the annihilation of dark matter particles into a pair of dark photons can dominate the freeze-out process even when this process is kinematically forbidden for dark matter at rest — this is known as the "forbidden dark matter" (FDM) regime. Prior studies of this regime, however, assume that any "dark Higgs" associated with breaking the dark U(1) and imparting mass to the dark photon is decoupled from the dark matter and as such plays no role in the freeze-out process. In this paper, we explore the effects of a dark Higgs on sub-GeV dark matter phenomenology in this FDM regime by considering the simplest possible construction in which there exist non-trivial dark matter-dark Higgs couplings: a model with a single complex scalar DM candidate coupled directly to the dark Higgs field. We find that for a wide range of parameter space, the dark Higgs can alter the resulting relic abundance by many orders of magnitude, and that this effect can remain significant even for a small dark matter-dark Higgs coupling constant. Considering measurements from direct detection and measurements of the CMB, we further find that points in this model's parameter space which recreate the appropriate dark matter relic abundance suffer only mild constraints from other sources at present, but may become accessible in near-future direct detection experiments. [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]

In this paper, we propose a bubble filtering-out mechanism for an asymmetric dark matter scenario during the Peccei-Quinn (PQ) phase transition. Based on a QCD axion model, extended by extra chiral neutrinos, we show that the PQ phase transition can be first order in the parameter space of the model and regarding the PQ symmetry breaking scale, the mechanism can generate PeV-scale heavy neutrinos as a dark matter candidate. Considering a CP-violating source, during the phase transition, discriminating between the neutrino and antineutrino number density, we find the observed dark matter relic abundance, such that the setup can be applied to the first order phase transition with different strengths. We then calculate effective couplings of the QCD axion addressing the strong CP problem within the model. We also study the energy density spectrum of gravitational waves generated from the first order phase transition and show that the signals can be detected by future ground-based detectors such as Einstein Telescope. In particular, for a visible heavy axion case of the model, it is shown that gravitational waves can be probed by DECIGO and BBO interferometers. Furthermore, we discuss the dark matter-standard model neutrino annihilation process as a source for the creation of PeV-scale neutrinos. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Yukawa-type interactions between heavy Dirac fermions and a scalar field are a common ingredient in various extensions of the Standard Model. Despite of that, the non-relativistic limit of the scalar Yukawa theory has not yet been studied in full generality in a rigorous and model-independent way. In this paper we intend to fill this gap by initiating a series of investigations that make use of modern effective field theory (EFT) techniques. In particular, we aim at constructing suitable non-relativistic and potential non-relativistic EFTs of Yukawa interactions (denoted as NRY and pNRY respectively) in close analogy to the well known and phenomenologically successful non-relativistic QCD (NRQCD) and potential non-relativistic QCD (pNRQCD). The phenomenological motivation for our study lies in the possibility to explain the existing cosmological observations by introducing heavy fermionic dark matter particles that interact with each other by exchanging a light scalar mediator. A systematic study of this compelling scenario in the framework of non-relativistic EFTs (NREFTs) constitutes the main novelty of our approach as compared to the existing studies. [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]

One of the most significant and practical figures of merit in axion haloscope searches is the scanning rate, because of the unknown axion mass. Under the best experimental parameters, the only way to improve the figure of merit is to increase the experimentally designed signal to noise ratio in the axion haloscope search analysis procedure. In this paper, we report an improved axion haloscope search analysis using the data taken by the CAPP-8TB haloscope. By correcting for the background biased by the background parametrizations in the presence of axion signals, we realized a signal to noise ratio efficiency of about 100%. Given the axion haloscope search analyses to date, the scanning rate can be improved by 21%, with about a 10% improvement in the signal to noise ratio. This improvement is another low cost innovation in axion haloscope searches, where all the experimental parameters are currently at their best. [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]

In this paper we present a novel mechanism for producing the observed Dark Matter (DM) relic abundance during the First Order Phase Transition (FOPT) in the early universe. We show that the bubble expansion with ultra-relativistic velocities can lead to the abundance of DM particles with masses much larger than the scale of the transition. We study this non-thermal production mechanism in the context of a generic phase transition and the electroweak phase transition. The application of the mechanism to the Higgs portal DM as well as the signal in the Stochastic Gravitational Background are discussed. [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]

Low energy antideuteron detection presents a unique channel for indirect detection, targeting dark matter that annihilates into hadrons in a relatively background-free way. Since the idea was first proposed, many WIMP-type models have already been disfavored by direct detection experiments, and current constraints indicate that any thermal relic candidates likely annihilate through some hidden sector process. In this paper, we show that cosmic ray antideuteron detection experiments represent one of the best ways to search for hidden sector thermal relic dark matter, and in particular investigate a vector portal dark matter that annihilates via a massive dark photon. We find that the parameter space with thermal relic annihilation and m χ > m A ′ > ~ 20 GeV is largely unconstrained, and near future antideuteron experiment GAPS will be able to probe models in this space with mχ ≈ mA′ up to masses of O (100 GeV). Specifically the dark matter models favored by the Fermi Galactic center excess is expected to be detected or constrained at the 5(3) −σ level assuming a optimistic (conservative) propagation model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Classically scale-invariant models are attractive not only because they may offer a solution to the long-standing gauge hierarchy problem, but also due to their role in facilitating strongly supercooled cosmic phase transitions. In this paper, we investigate the interplay between these two aspects. We do so in the context of the electroweak phase transition (EWPT) in the minimal scale-invariant theory. We find that the amount of supercooling generally decreases for increasing scalar couplings. However, the stabilization of the electroweak scale against the Planck scale requires the absence of Landau poles in the respective energy range. Scalar couplings at the TeV scale can therefore not become larger than 𝒪(10−1). As a consequence, all fully consistent parameter points predict the EWPT not to complete before the QCD transition, which then eventually triggers the generation of the electroweak scale. We also discuss the potential of the model to give rise to an observable gravitational wave signature, as well as the possibility to accommodate a dark matter candidate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The simplest extension of the Standard Model by only one real singlet scalar can explain the observed dark matter relic density while giving simultaneously a strongly first-order electroweak phase transition in the early universe. However, after imposing the invisible Higgs decay constraint from the LHC, the parameter space of the single scalar model shrinks to regions with only a few percentage of the DM relic abundance and when adding the direct detection bound, e.g. from XENON100, it gets excluded completely. In this paper, we extend the Standard Model with two real gauge singlet scalars, here s and s′, and show that the electroweak symmetry breaking may occur via different channels. Despite very restrictive first-order phase transition conditions for the two-scalar model in comparison to the single scalar model, there is a viable space of parameters in different phase transition channels that simultaneously explains a fraction or the whole dark matter relic density, a strongly first-order electroweak phase transition and still evading the direct detection bounds from the latest LUX/XENON experiments while respecting the invisible Higgs decay width constraint from the LHC. [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]

A model of vector dark matter that communicates with the Standard Model only through gravitational interactions has been investigated. It has been shown in detail how does the canonical quantization of the vector field in varying FLRW geometry implies a tachyonic enhancement of some of its momentum modes. Approximate solutions of the mode equation have been found and verified against exact numerical ones. De Sitter geometry has been assumed during inflation while after inflation a non-standard cosmological era of reheating with a generic equation of state has been adopted which is followed by the radiation-dominated universe. It has been shown that the spectrum of dark vectors produced gravitationally is centered around a characteristic comoving momentum k⋆ that is determined in terms of the mass of the vector mX, the Hubble parameter during in- flation HI, the equation of state parameter w and the efficiency of reheating γ. Regions in the parameter space consistent with the observed dark matter relic abundance have been determined, justifying the gravitational production as a viable mechanism for vector dark matter. The results obtained in this paper are applicable within various possible models of inflation/reheating with non-standard cosmology parametrized effectively by the corresponding equation of state and efficiency of reheating. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We discuss the possibility to detect spin 0, 1 and 1 2 dark matter (DM) at future e+e− colliders. The models considered here are simple, consistent and renormalizable field theories that provide correct DM abundance and satisfy direct detection, indirect detection and collider constraints. The intention of this paper was to verify to what extent it might be possible to disentangle models of different DM spins by the measurement of the cross section for e+e−→ Z + ⋯ at future e+e− colliders. We specialize to the case of the ILC operating at s = 250 GeV, however our results apply as well for the FCC-ee and the CEPC colliders. For each model the cross section maximized with respect to parameters was calculated and compared to the expected 95% CL cross-section limits estimated for the ILC. It turned out that near the 2mDM ≃ m1,2 resonances, where m1 and m2 are the SM Higgs boson and a non-standard Higgs boson masses, respectively, there exist substantial regions where the models are testable. A special attention has been payed to calculation of the cross section in the region where m1 ≃ m2. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we summarize phenomenology in lepton portal dark matter (DM) models, where DM couples to leptons and extra leptons/sleptons. There are several possible setups: a DM field is either a complex/real scalar or a Dirac/Majorana fermion, and chiralities of leptons that couple to the DM are different according to the spin of the DM. We discuss the prediction of each model and compare it with the latest experimental constraints from the DM detections, the LHC, and the flavor experiments. We also propose simple setups to resolve the discrepancy in the anomalous magnetic moment of muon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In hidden sector models, dark matter does not directly couple to the particle content of the Standard Model, strongly suppressing rates at direct detection experiments, while still allowing for large signals from annihilation. In this paper, we conduct an extensive study of hidden sector dark matter, covering a wide range of dark matter spins, mediator spins, interaction diagrams, and annihilation final states, in each case determining whether the annihilations are s-wave (thus enabling efficient annihilation in the universe today). We then go on to consider a variety of portal interactions that allow the hidden sector annihilation products to decay into the Standard Model. We broadly classify constraints from relic density requirements and dwarf spheroidal galaxy observations. In the scenario that the hidden sector was in equilibrium with the Standard Model in the early universe, we place a lower bound on the portal coupling, as well as on the dark matter's elastic scattering cross section with nuclei. We apply our hidden sector results to the observed Galactic Center gamma-ray excess and the cosmic-ray antiproton excess. We find that both of these excesses can be simultaneously explained by a variety of hidden sector models, without any tension with constraints from observations of dwarf spheroidal galaxies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Majoron, the Nambu-Goldstone boson of lepton number symmetry, is an interesting candidate for dark matter as it deeply connects the dark matter and neutrino physics. In this paper, we consider the Majoron dark matter as pseudo Nambu-Goldstone boson with TeV-scale mass. The heavy Majoron generally has the large decay constant and tiny Yukawa couplings to light right-handed neutrinos which are required by cosmological and astrophysical observations. That makes it difficult to realize the desired amount of the relic abundance of Majoron dark matter. We consider three improved scenarios for the generation of Majoron, dubbed as Majorogenesis, in the early universe and find in all cases the parameter space compatible with the relic abundance and cosmic-ray constraints. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Spontaneous breaking of conformal symmetry has been widely exploited in successful model building of both inflationary cosmology and particle physics phenomenology. Conformal Grand Unified Theory (CGUT) inflation provides the same scalar tilt and tensor-to-scalar ratio as of Starobinsky and Higgs inflation. Moreover, it predicts a pro- ton life time compatible with the current experimental bound. In this paper, we extend CGUT to account for the production of dark matter and the reheating of the Standard Model. To this end, we introduce a hidden sector directly coupled to the inflaton, whereas the reheating of the visible sector is realized through a portal coupling between the dark particles and the Higgs boson. The masses and interactions of the dark particles and the Higgs boson are determined by the form of the conformal potential and the non-vanishing VEV of the inflaton. We provide benchmark points in the parameter space of the model that give the observed dark matter relic density and reheating temperatures compatible with the Big Bang nucleosynthesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although many astrophysical and cosmological observations point towards the existence of Dark Matter (DM), the nature of the DM particle has not been clarified to date. In this paper, we investigate a minimal model with a vector DM (VDM) candidate. Within this model, we compute the cross section for the scattering of the VDM particle with a nucleon. We provide the next-to-leading order (NLO) cross section for the direct detection of the DM particle. Subsequently, we study the phenomenological implications of the NLO corrections, in particular with respect to the sensitivity of the direct detection DM experi- ments. We further investigate more theoretical questions such as the gauge dependence of the results and the remaining theoretical uncertainties due to the applied approximations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

If dark matter (DM) is a fermion and its interactions with the standard model particles are mediated by pseudoscalar particles, the tree-level amplitude for the DM-nucleon elastic scattering is suppressed by the momentum transfer in the non-relativistic limit. At the loop level, on the other hand, the spin-independent contribution to the cross section appears without such suppression. Thus, the loop corrections are essential to discuss the sensitivities of the direct detection experiments for the model prediction. The one-loop corrections were investigated in the previous works. However, the two-loop diagrams give the leading order contribution to the DM-gluon effective operator χ¯χGμναGαμν and have not been correctly evaluated yet. Moreover, some interaction terms which affect the scattering cross section were overlooked. In this paper, we show the cross section obtained by the improved analysis and discuss the region where the cross section becomes large. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]