Search

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]

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]

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]

In the absence of any hints of new physics in LHC, TeV dark matter candidates interacting through electroweak force (EWDM) are still highly motivated. We extend the Standard Model by adding an arbitrary SU(2) DM multiplet in non-chiral representation. In addition to the well-known real representation which has no coupling to the nuclei at tree level, the complex representation can lead to a new DM candidate providing that one includes a higher dimensional mass-splitting operator, which survives the current direct detection bounds. Since the masses of gauge mediators are light compared to the dark particles, Sommerfeld effect is dominant and affects the value of annihilation cross-section in both the early universe and current time. We computed the relic abundance through freeze-out mechanism in order to determine DM mass. Gamma ray fluxes in our galaxy and dwarf satellites provide a promising tool to probe EWDM theory. We confronted the four fermionic representations of the model with the latest astrophysical observations. It can be concluded that the model passes the current experimental constraints successfully, and it is accessible to future observations. [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]

We study a generic model in which the dark sector is composed of a Majorana dark matter χ1, its excited state χ2, both at the electroweak scale, and a light dark photon Z′ with mz′ ∼ 10−4 eV. The light Z′ enhances the self-scattering elastic cross section χ1χ1 → χ1χ1 enough to solve the small scale problems in the N-body simulations with the cold dark matter. The dark matter communicates with the SM via kinetic mixing parameterized by ϵ. The inelastic scattering process χ1χ1 → χ2χ2 followed by the prompt decay χ2 → χ1Z′ generates energetic Z′. By setting δ ≡ mχ2− mχ1 ≃ 2.8 keV and ϵ ∼ 10−10 the excess in the electron-recoil data at the XENON1T experiment can be explained by the dark-photoelectric effect. The relic abundance of the dark matter can also be accommodated by the thermal freeze-out mechanism via the annihilation χ1χ1(χ2χ2) → Z′Z′ with the dark gauge coupling constant αX ∼ 10−3. [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]

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 investigate the potential stochastic gravitational waves from first-order electroweak phase transitions in a model with pseudo-Nambu-Goldstone dark matter and two Higgs doublets. The dark matter candidate can naturally evade direct detection bounds, and can achieve the observed relic abundance via the thermal mechanism. Three scalar fields in the model obtain vacuum expectation values, related to phase transitions at the early Universe. We search for the parameter points that can cause first-order phase transitions, taking into account the existed experimental constraints. The resulting gravitational wave spectra are further evaluated. Some parameter points are found to induce strong gravitational wave signals, which have the opportunity to be detected in future space-based interferometer experiments LISA, Taiji, and TianQin. [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]

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 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 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]

We study the phenomenology of a hypercharge-zero SU (2) triplet scalar whose existence is motivated by two-step electroweak symmetry-breaking. We consider both the possibility that the triplets are stable and contribute to the dark matter density, or that they decay via mixing with the standard model Higgs boson. The former is constrained by disappearing charged track searches at the LHC and by dark matter direct detection experiments, while the latter is constrained by existing multilepton collider searches. We find that a two-step electroweak phase transition involving a stable triplet with a negative quadratic term is ruled out by direct detection searches, while an unstable triplet with a mass less than 230 GeV is excluded at 95% confidence level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We study the electroweak baryogenesis in a fermionic dark matter scenario with a (pseudo)scalar being the mediator in the Higgs portal. It is discussed that the electroweak phase transition turns to be first-order after taking into account the role of the (pseudo)scalar in the thermal effective potential in our extended standard model. Imposing the relic density constraint from the WMAP/Planck and the bounds from the direct detection experiments XENON100/LUX, we show that the dark matter scenario with a scalar mediator is hardly capable of explaining the baryogenesis while the same model with a pseudoscalar mediator is able to explain the baryon asymmetry. For the latter, we constrain more the model with Fermi-LAT upper limit on dark matter annihilation into $$ b\overline{b} $$ and τ τ . The allowed dark matter mass that leads to correct relic abundance, renders the electroweak phase transition strongly first-order, and respects the Fermi-LAT limit, will be in the range 110-320 GeV. The exotic and invisible Higgs decay bounds and the mono-jet search limit at the LHC do not affect the viable space of parameters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We analyze the vacuum stability in the inert Higgs doublet extension of the Standard Model (SM), augmented by right-handed neutrinos (RHNs) to explain neutrino masses at tree level by the seesaw mechanism. We make a comparative study of the high- and low-scale seesaw scenarios and the effect of the Dirac neutrino Yukawa couplings on the stability of the Higgs potential. Bounds on the scalar quartic couplings and Dirac Yukawa couplings are obtained from vacuum stability and perturbativity considerations. These bounds are found to be relevant only for low-scale seesaw scenarios with relatively large Yukawa couplings. The regions corresponding to stability, metastability and instability of the electroweak vacuum are identified. These theoretical constraints give a very predictive parameter space for the couplings and masses of the new scalars and RHNs which can be tested at the LHC and future colliders. The lightest non-SM neutral CP-even/odd scalar can be a good dark matter candidate and the corresponding collider signatures are also predicted for the model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

If the dark sector contains 't Hooft-Polyakov monopoles and a small enough dark gauge coupling, dark monopoles could be a macroscopic dark matter candidate. Its Higgs-portal coupling to the Standard Model can modify the electroweak vacuum in the monopole interior. In the most striking cases, dark monopoles could even contain electroweak-symmetric cores and generate multi-hit signals at large-volume detectors. If they are produced via parametric resonance in the early Universe, monopoles with radii up to one micron and masses up to ten kilotonnes could account for all of dark matter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We consider an extension of the Standard Model with a complex singlet scalar, where a global U(1) symmetry is explicitly broken to ℤ3 symmetry. We study the two-step electroweak phase transition in the model and find that it can be of first-order if the heavy scalar mass falls in the range of 1–2 TeV and the mixing angle |θ| ≳ 0.2 (11.5°). The Higgs signal strength measurements at the LHC, on the other hand, restrict the mixing angle |θ| ≲ 0.4 (23°). Future colliders including high-luminosity LHC can probe the remaining parameter space of first-order phase transition in this scenario. After the U(1) symmetry breaking, the pseudo-Goldstone boson becomes a dark matter candidate due to a hidden ℤ2 symmetry of the model. We find that the pseudo-Goldstone boson can make up a small fraction of the observed dark matter and escape from the constraints of current direct detection. We also show that the stochastic gravitational wave signals from the phase transition are potentially discoverable with future space-based interferometers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We study the non-minimal composite Higgs model with global symmetry SO(7) broken to SO(5) × SO(2). The model results in a composite Two-Higgs doublet model (2HDM) equipped with two extra singlets, the lightest of which can be a viable dark matter candidate. The model is able to reproduce the correct dark matter relic density both via the usual thermal freeze-out and through late time decay of the heavier singlet. In the case of thermal freeze-out, it is possible to evade current experimental constraints even with the minimum fine tuning allowed by electroweak precision tests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We consider a realisation of composite Higgs models in the context of SU(6)/SO(6) symmetry, which features a custodial bi-triplet, two Higgs doublets and dark matter candidates. This model can arise from an underlying gauge-fermion theory. The general vacuum structure is explored using the top partial compositeness to generate a special vacuum characterised by a single angle aligned with the first Higgs doublet. We present the CP and Dark Matter ℤ2 parity in two different pNGB bases and analyse the spectra in the absence of tadpoles and tachyons. For the phenomenology, we discuss the constraints from electroweak precision tests and from a potentially light CP-odd singlet (other than the Dark Matter) in the model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Though the 125-GeV scalar, as the Higgs boson of the standard model, is disfavoured as a dark matter portal by direct searches and the observations on relic density, a heavier scalar in an extended electroweak sector can fit into that role. We explore this possibility in the context of two Higgs doublet models (2HDM). Taking Type I and Type II 2HDM as illustration, and assuming a scalar gauge singlet dark matter particle, we show that the heavy neutral CP-even scalar (H) can (a) serve as dark matter portal consistently with all data, and (b) have a substantial invisible branching ratio, over a wide region of the parameter space. Using this fact, we estimate rates of LHC signals where H is produced via (i) gluon fusion, in association with a hard jet, and (ii) vector boson fusion. Invisible decays of the H can then lead to monojet + E/T in (i), and two forward jets with large rapidity gap + E/T in (ii). The second kind of signal usually yields better significance for the high-luminosity run. We also supplement our cut-based analyses with those based on gradient boosted decision trees (XGboost) and artificial neural network (ANN) techniques, where the statistical significance distinctly improves. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An electroweak multiplet stable due to a new global symmetry is a simple and well-motivated candidate for thermal dark matter. We study how direct searches at a future linear collider, such as the proposed CLIC, can constrain scalar and fermion triplets, quintets and septets, as well as a fermion doublet. The phenomenology is highly sensitive to charged state lifetimes and thus the mass splitting between the members of the multiplet. We include both radiative corrections and the effect of non-renormalisable operators on this splitting. In order to explore the full range of charged state lifetimes, we consider signals including long-lived charged particles, disappearing tracks, and monophotons. By combining the different searches we find discovery and exclusion contours in the mass-lifetime plane. In particular, when the mass splitting is generated purely through radiative corrections, we can exclude the pure-Higgsino doublet below 310 GeV, the pure-wino triplet below 775 GeV, and the minimal dark matter fermion quintet below 1025 GeV. The scenario where the thermal relic abundance of a Higgsino accounts for the whole dark matter of the Universe can be excluded if the mass splitting between the charged and neutral states is less than 230 MeV. Finally, we discuss possible improvements to these limits by using associated hard leptons to idenify the soft visible decay products of the charged members of the dark matter multiplet. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We construct composite and partially composite Higgs models with complex pseudo-Nambu-Goldstone (pNGB) dark matter states from four-dimensional gauge-Yukawa theories with strongly interacting fermions. The fermions are partially gauged under the electroweak symmetry, and the dynamical electroweak symmetry breaking sector is minimal.The pNGB dark matter particle is stable due to a U(1) technibaryon-like symmetry, also present in the technicolor limit of the models. However, the relic density is particle anti-particle symmetric and due to thermal freeze-out as opposed to the technicolor limit where it is typically due to an asymmetry.The pNGB Higgs is composite or partially composite depending on the origin of the Standard Model fermion masses, which impacts the dark matter phenomenology. We illustrate the important features with a model example invariant under an SU(4) × SU(2) × U(1) global symmetry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We discuss the extent to which models of Weakly Interacting Massive Particle (WIMP) Dark Matter (DM) at and above the electroweak scale can be probed conclusively in future high energy and astroparticle physics experiments. We consider simplified models with bino-like dark matter and slepton-like coannihilation partners, and find that perturbative models yield the observed relic abundance up to at least 10 TeV. We emphasise that coannihilation can either increase or decrease the dark matter relic abundance. We compute the sensitivity of direct detection experiments to DM-nucleus scattering, consider indirect detection bounds and estimate the sensitivity of future proton colliders to slepton pair production. We find that current and future experiments will be able to probe the Dirac DM models up to at least 10 TeV. However, current and future searches will not be sensitive to models of Majorana dark matter for masses above 2 or 4TeV, for one or ten coannihilation partners respectively, leaving around 70% of the parameter space unconstrained. This demonstrates the need for new experimental ideas to access models of coannihilating Majorana dark matter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present the full basis of effective operators relevant for dark matter direct detection, up to and including operators of mass dimension seven. We treat the cases where dark matter is either a Dirac fermion, a Majorana fermion, a complex scalar, or a real scalar, allowing for dark matter to furnish a general representation of the electroweak gauge group. We describe the algorithmic procedure used to obtain the minimal set of effective operators and provide the tree-level matching conditions onto the effective theory valid below the electroweak scale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]