The sensitivity of the lightest supersymmetric particle relic density calculation to the variation of the cosmological expansion rate before nucleosynthesis is discussed. We show that such a modification, even extremely modest and with no consequence on the cosmological observations, can greatly enhance the calculated relic density, and therefore change the constraints on the SUSY parameter space drastically. We illustrate this variation in two examples of SUSY models, and show that it is unsafe to use the lower bound of the WMAP limits in order to constrain supersymmetry. We therefore suggest to use only the upper value Omega_DM h^2 < 0.135.
Oscillations between ordinary and sterile neutrinos can generate large neutrino asymmetries in the early universe. These asymmetries can significantly affect big bang nucleosynthesis (BBN) through modification of nuclear reaction rates. We study this phenomenon within a model consisting of the three ordinary neutrinos plus one sterile neutrino that can be motivated by the neutrino anomalies and the dark matter problem. We calculate how the lepton asymmetries produced evolve at temperatures where they impact on BBN. The effect of the asymmetries on primordial helium production is determined, le…
A relic lepton asymmetry orders of magnitude bigger than the baryon one may hide in the relic neutrino background. No direct theoretical or experimental limitations on its magnitude and sign are known. Indirect cosmological constraints exist ranging from $|L|<0.01$ to $L<10$. We discuss a BBN model with late electron-sterile neutrino oscillations which is a fine leptometer - it is capable of feeling extremely small relic lepton asymmetry - $|L|>10^{-8}$. This sensitivity is achieved through the influence of such small $L$ on the neutrino oscillations, suppressing or enhancing them, and thus ch…
It has been suggested that relic long-lived strongly interacting massive particles (SIMPs, or $X$ particles) existed in the early universe. We study effects of such long-lived unstable SIMPs on big bang nucleosynthesis (BBN) assuming that such particles existed during the BBN epoch, but then decayed long before they could be detected. The interaction strength between an $X$ particle and a nucleon is assumed to be similar to that between nucleons. We then calculate BBN in the presence of the unstable neutral charged $X^0$ particles taking into account the capture of $X^0$ particles by nuclei to…
We compare results of four public supersymmetric (SUSY) spectrum codes, Isajet, Softsusy, Spheno and Suspect to estimate the present-day uncertainty in the calculation of the relic density of dark matter in mSUGRA models. We find that even for mass differences of about 1% the spread in the obtained relic densities can be 10%. In difficult regions of the parameter space, such as large tan(beta) or large m_0, discrepancies in the relic density are much larger. We also find important differences in the stau co-annihilation region. We show the impact of these uncertainties on the bounds from WMAP …
Provided that matter-antimatter domains are present at the onset of big bang nucleosynthesis (BBN), the number of allowed additional relativistic species increases, compared to the standard scenario when matter-antimatter domains are absent. The extra relativistic species may take the form of massless fermions or even massless bosons, like relic gravitons. The number of additional degrees of freedom compatible with BBN depends, in this framework, upon the typical scale of the domains and the antimatter fraction. Since the presence of matter-antimatter domains allows a reduction of the neutron …
We present a complete calculation of the QCD and SUSY-QCD corrections to neutralino pair annihilation into bottom quark-antiquark pairs through exchange of a pseudoscalar Higgs boson, which is the dominant process in the cosmological A-funnel region of the mSUGRA model. We present numerical predictions for the annihilation cross section and discuss the influence of the correction terms on the cold dark matter relic density with respect to recent cosmological data.
In the framework of the Constrained MSSM we re--examine the gravitino as the lightest superpartner and a candidate for cold dark matter in the Universe. Unlike in other recent studies, we include both a thermal contribution to its relic population from scatterings in the plasma and a non--thermal one from neutralino or stau decays after freeze--out. Relative to a previous analysis [1] we update, extend and considerably improve our treatment of constraints from observed light element abundances on additional energy released during BBN in association with late gravitino production. Assuming the …
If detected, dark matter particles such as WIMPs and sterile neutrinos will be the earliest relics we can study, the first coming from before Big Bang Nucleosynthesis, an epoch from which we have no data so far. Here we discuss how different pre-BBN cosmological models affect the properties of these particles, and how these properties could thus allow to determine the evolution of the Universe before BBN.
The relic abundance of baryons - the only form of stable matter whose existence we are certain of - is a crucial parameter for many cosmological processes, as well as material evidence that there is new physics beyond the Standard Model. We discuss recent determinations of the cosmological baryon density from analysis of the abundances of light elements synthesised at the end of ``the first three minutes'', and from the observed temperature anisotropies imprinted on small angular-scales in the cosmic microwave background when the universe was about 100,000 yr old.
We investigate scenarios in which a charged, long-lived scalar particle decouples from the primordial plasma in the Early Universe. We compute the number density at time of freeze-out considering both the cases of abelian and non-abelian interactions and including the effect of Sommerfeld enhancement at low initial velocity. We also discuss as extreme case the maximal cross section that fulfils the unitarity bound. We then compare these number densities to the exotic nuclei searches for stable relics and to the BBN bounds on unstable relics and draw conclusions for the cases of a stau or stop …
We revisit the big bang nucleosynthesis (BBN) limits on primordial magnetic fields and/or turbulent motions accounting for the decaying nature of turbulent sources between the time of generation and BBN. This leads to larger estimates for the gravitational wave (GW) signal than previously expected. We address the detection prospects through space-based interferometers (for GWs generated around the electroweak energy scale) as well as pulsar timing arrays and astrometric missions (for GWs generated around the quantum chromodynamics energy scale).
Non-universal boundary conditions in grand unified theories can lead to non-universal gaugino masses at the unification scale. In R-parity preserving theories the lightest supersymmetric particle is a natural candidate for the dark matter. In this talk the composition of the lightest neutralino is studied, when nonuniversal gaugino masses come from representations of SO(10). In these cases, the thermal relic density compatible with WMAP observations is found.
We study flavor oscillations in the early universe, assuming primordial neutrino-antineutrino asymmetries. Including collisions and pair processes in the kinetic equations, we not only estimate the degree of flavor equilibration, but for the first time also kinetic equilibration among neutrinos and with the ambient plasma. Typically the restrictive BBN bound on the nue-antinue asymmetry indeed applies to all flavors as claimed in the previous literature, but fine-tuned initial asymmetries always allow for a large surviving neutrino excess radiation that may show up in precision cosmological da…
The sensitivity of the lightest supersymmetric particle relic density calculation to different cosmological scenarios is discussed. In particular, we investigate the effects of modifications of the expansion rate and of the entropy content in the Early Universe. These effects, even with no observational consequences, can still drastically modify the relic density constraints on the SUSY parameter space. We suggest general parametrizations to evaluate such effects, and derive also constraints from Big-Bang nucleosynthesis. We show that using the relic density in the context of supersymmetric co…
We investigate the enhancement of neutralino relic density in the context of a realistic cosmological scenario with Quintessence. The accurate relic density computation we perform allows us to be sensitive to both cases with shifts in the abundance at the percent level, and to enhancements as large as 10^6. We thoroughly analyze the dependence on the supersymmetric spectrum and on the mass and composition of the lightest neutralino. We point out that supersymmetric models yielding a wino or higgsino-like lightest neutralino become cosmologically appealing in the presence of Quintessence.
A laboratory detection of a sterile neutrino could provide the first indication of the evolution of the Universe before Big-Bang Nucleosynthesis (BBN), an epoch yet untested. Such "visible" sterile neutrinos are observable in upcoming experiments such as KATRIN/TRISTAN and HUNTER in the keV mass range and PTOLEMY and others in the eV mass range. A set of standard assumptions is typically made about cosmology before the temperature of the Universe was 5 MeV. However, non-standard pre-BBN cosmologies based on alternative assumptions could arise in motivated theoretical models and are equally in …
The calculation of the cosmological relic density of the dark matter candidate within supersymmetric models is an interesting possibility to obtain additional constraints on the supersymmetric parameter space with respect to collider, electroweak precision, and low-energy data. Considering future cosmological precision measurements, radiative corrections can play an important role in the analysis. We present full QCD and SUSY-QCD corrections to neutralino pair annihilation into quark-antiquark pairs and analyze their impact on the neutralino annihilation cross section and the relic density. By…
We explore the relic density of dark matter and the particle spectrum within a constrained version of an $E_6$ inspired SUSY model with an extra $U(1)_N$ gauge symmetry. In this model a single exact custodial symmetry forbids tree-level flavor-changing transitions and the most dangerous baryon and lepton number violating operators. We present a set of benchmark points showing scenarios that have a SM-like Higgs mass of 125 GeV and sparticle masses above the LHC limits. They lead to striking new physics signatures which may be observed during run II of the LHC and can distinguish this model fro…
Alternative cosmologies, based on extensions of General Relativity, predict modified thermal histories in the Early Universe during the pre Big Bang Nucleosynthesis (BBN) era, epoch which is not directly constrained by cosmological observations. When the expansion rate is enhanced with respect to the standard case, thermal relics typically decouple with larger relic abundances. The correct value of the relic abundance is therefore obtained for larger annihilation cross--sections, as compared to standard cosmology. A direct consequence is that indirect detection rates are enhanced. Extending pr…
We have calculated the full O(alpha_s) supersymmetric QCD corrections to neutralino-stop co-annihilation into electroweak vector and Higgs bosons within the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (MSSM). We performed a parameter study within the phenomenological MSSM and demonstrated that the studied co-annihilation processes are phenomenologically relevant, especially in the context of a 126 GeV Higgs-like particle. By means of an example scenario we discuss the effect of the full next-to-leading order corrections on the co-annihilation cross section and show their impact on the predicted neut…
We present full QCD and SUSY-QCD corrections to neutralino pair annihilation into quark-antiquark pairs. We show results and numerically evaluate their impact on the neutralino annihilation cross section and the relic density in scenarios with non-universal gaugino masses. By comparing to the relic density obtained from a pure leading order calculation, we demonstrate that the corrections strongly influence the extraction of SUSY mass parameters from cosmological data.
The primordial abundances of the light nuclides produced by Big Bang Nucleosynthesis (BBN) during the first 20 minutes in the evolution of the Universe are sensitive to the universal density of baryons and to the expansion rate of the early Universe. For example, while deuterium is an excellent baryometer, helium-4 provides an accurate chronometer. Some 400 kyr later, when the cosmic background radiation (CBR) was freed from the grasp of the ionized plasma of protons and electrons, the spectrum of temperature fluctuations also depended on (among other parameters) the baryon density and the den…
R-hadrons are only one of many possible stable colored states that the LHC might produce. All such particles would provide a spectacular, if somewhat unusual, signal at ATLAS and CMS. Produced in large numbers and leaving a characteristic signature throughout all layers of the detector, including the muon chamber, they could be straightforward to discover even with low luminosity. Though such long lived colored particles (LLCPs) can be realized in many extensions of the Standard Model, most analyses of their phenomenology have focused only on R-hadrons. In order to distinguish among the possib…
Many attempts to solve the Hubble tension with extended cosmological models combine an enhanced relic radiation density, acting at the level of background cosmology, with new physical ingredients affecting the evolution of cosmological perturbations. Several authors have pointed out the ability of combined Baryon Acoustic Oscillation (BAO) and Big Bang Nucleosynthesis (BBN) data to probe the background cosmological history independently of both CMB maps and supernovae data. Using state-of-the-art assumptions on BBN, we confirm that combined BAO, deuterium, and helium data are in tension with t…
Motivated by the fact that neutrinos are massive, we study the effect of neutrino Yukawa couplings on neutralino dark matter observables within the framework of a supersymmetric seesaw. We find that neutrino couplings significantly affect the neutralino relic density in regions of parameter space where soft SUSY-breaking slepton masses and/or trilinear couplings are large. Depending on the size of the couplings, the neutralino relic density spans over an order of magnitude in the A-funnel, focus point and stop-coannihilation regions of mSUGRA. We also show that dark matter detection rates can …
We examine the effects of relic dark matter annihilations on big bang nucleosynthesis (BBN). The magnitude of these effects have scale simply with the dark matter mass and annihilation cross-section, which we derive. Estimates based on these scaling behaviors indicate that BBN severely constrains hadronic and radiative dark matter annihilation channels in the previously unconsidered dark matter mass region MeV $\lesssim m_χ \lesssim 10$ GeV. Interestingly, we find that BBN constraints on hadronic annihilation channels are competitive with similar bounds derived from the cosmic microwave backgr…
In this paper, we perform a full next-to-leading order (NLO) QCD calculation of neutralino scattering on protons or neutrons in the MSSM. We match the results of the NLO QCD calculation to the scalar and axial-vector operators in the effective field theory approach. These govern the spin-independent and spin-dependent detection rates, respectively. The calculations have been performed for general bino, wino and higgsino decompositions of neutralino dark matter and required a novel tensor reduction method of loop integrals with vanishing relative velocities and Gram determinants. Numerically, t…
We review some astrophysical and cosmological properties and implications of neutrino masses and mixing angles. These include: constraints based on the relic density of neutrinos, limits on their masses and lifetimes, BBN limits on mass parameters, neutrinos and supernovae, and neutrinos and high energy cosmic rays.
We review the phenomenology of SUSY dark matter in various versions of MSSM, with universal and nonuniversal gaugino masses at the GUT scale. We start with the universal case (CMSSM), where the cosmologically compatible dark matter relic density is achieved only over some narrow regions of parameter space, involving some fine-tuning. Moreover, most of these regions are seriously challenged by the constraints from collider and direct dark matter detection experiments. Then we consider some simple and predictive nonuniversal gaugino mass models, based on SU(5) GUT. Several of these models offer …
We discuss the SUSY dark matter phenomenology in some simple and predictive models of nonuniversal gaugino masses at the GUT scale. Assuming the gaugino masses to transform as a sum of singlet and a nonsinglet representation of the GUT group SU(5), one can evade the LEP constraints to access the bulk annihilation region of the bino dark matter relic density. Besides, with this assumption one can also have a mixed gaugino-higgsino dark matter, giving the right relic density over large parts of the parameter space. We consider the model predictions for LHC and dark matter experiments in both the…
Recent experimental and theoretical determinations of (g-2)_muon, Omega*h^2 and BF(b->s,gamma) place exceedingly tight constraints on the minimal supergravity (mSUGRA) model. We advocate relaxing the generational universality of mSUGRA, so that GUT scale third generation scalar masses are greater than the (degenerate) first and second generation scalar masses (a normal scalar mass hierarchy (NMH)). The non-degeneracy allows for a reconciliation of all the above constraints, and also respects FCNC limits from B_d-B_dbar mixing and b -> s,gamma. The NMH SUGRA model leads to the prediction of rel…
We study models in which supersymmetry breaking appears at an intermediate scale, M_in, below the GUT scale. That is, that the soft supersymmetry-breaking parameters of the MSSM are universal at M_in. We demand that the lightest neutralino be the LSP, and that the relic neutralino density not conflict with measurements by WMAP and others, and study the morphology of this constraint as the universality scale is reduced from the GUT scale. At moderate values of M_in, we find that the allowed regions of the (m_1/2,m_0) plane are squeezed by the requirements of electroweak symmetry breaking and th…
We investigate supergravity models in which the lightest supersymmetric particle (LSP) is a stable gravitino. We assume that the next-lightest supersymmetric particle (NLSP) freezes out with its thermal relic density before decaying to the gravitino at time t ~ 10^4 s - 10^8 s. In contrast to studies that assume a fixed gravitino relic density, the thermal relic density assumption implies upper, not lower, bounds on superpartner masses, with important implications for particle colliders. We consider slepton, sneutrino, and neutralino NLSPs, and determine what superpartner masses are viable in …
Null results from dark matter (DM) direct detection experiments and the 125 GeV Higgs both pose serious challenges to minimal supersymmetry. In this paper, we propose a simple extension of the MSSM that economically solves both problems: a "dark sector" consisting of a singlet and a pair of $SU(2)$ doublets. Loops of the dark sector fields help lift the Higgs mass to 125 GeV consistent with naturalness, while the lightest fermion in the dark sector can be viable thermal relic DM, provided that it is mostly singlet. The DM relic abundance is controlled by s-wave annihilation to tops and Higgsin…
We investigate stau-antistau annihilation into heavy quarks in the phenomenological Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model within the DM@NLO project. We present the calculation of the corresponding cross section including corrections up to $\mathcal{O}(α_s)$ and QED Sommerfeld enhancement. The numerical impact of these corrections is discussed for the cross section and the dark matter relic density, where we focus on top-quark final states and consider either neutralino or gravitino dark matter. Similarly to previous work, we find that the presented corrections should be included when calculati…
The cosmological relic density of the lightest supersymmetric particle of the minimal supersymmetric standard model is calculated under the assumption of gauge and Yukawa coupling unification. We employ radiative electroweak breaking with universal boundary conditions from gravity-mediated supersymmetry breaking. Further constraints are imposed by the experimental bounds on the b-quark mass and the BR(b -> s gamma). We find that coannihilation of the lightest supersymmetric particle, which turns out to be an almost pure bino, with the next-to-lightest supersymmetric particle (the lightest stau…
Detecting dark matter (DM) relic via freeze-in is difficult in laboratories due to smallness of the couplings involved. However, a non-standard cosmological history of the Universe, prior to Big Bang Nucleosynthesis (BBN), can dramatically change this scenario. In this context, we study the freeze-in production of dark matter in classically scale invariant $U(1)_X$ gauge extension of the Standard Model (SM), recently dubbed as the \textit{Scale Invariant FIMP Miracle}. We assume an additional species dominates the energy density of the Universe at early times, causing the expansion rate at a g…
We study the direct detection rate for SUSY cold dark m atter (CDM) predicted by the minimal supersymmetric standard model with universal boundary conditions and large values for tanβ. The relic abundance of the lightest supersymmetric particle (LSP), assumed to be approximately a bino, is obtained by including its coannihilations with the next-to-lightest supersymmetric particle (NLSP), which is the lightest s-tau. We find detectable rates in the currently planned experiments for a sector of the parameter space consistent with the cosmological constraint on the LSP relic abundance and the one…
We provide a simple analysis of the big-bang nucleosynthesis (BBN) sensitivity to the light dark matter (DM) generated by the thermal freeze-in mechanism. It is shown that the ratio of the effective neutrino number shift $ΔN_ν$ over the DM relic density $ω\equiv Ωh^2$, denoted by $R_χ\equivΔN_ν/ω$, cancels the decaying particle mass and the feeble coupling, rendering therefore a simple visualization of $ΔN_ν$ at the BBN epoch in terms of the DM mass. This property drives one to conclude that the shift with a sensitivity of $ΔN_ν\simeq \mathcal{O}(0.1)$ cannot originate from a single warm DM un…
The cosmological consequences of $f(R)$ gravity are reviewed in the framework of recent data obtained by PAMELA (Payload for Antimatter Matter Exploration and Light-nuclei Astrophysics) experiment. This collaboration has reported an excess of positron events that cannot be explained by conventional cosmology and particle physics, and are usually ascribed to the dark matter presence (in particular, weak interacting massive particles). The dark matter interpretation of PAMELA data has motivated the study of alternative cosmological models (with respect to the standard cosmology) owing to the fac…
In the event that R-Parity conserving supersymmetry (SUSY) is discovered at the LHC, a key issue which will need to be addressed will be the consistency of that signal with astrophysical and non-accelerator constraints on SUSY Dark Matter. This issue is studied for the SPS1a mSUGRA benchmark model by using measurements of end-points and thresholds in the invariant mass spectra of various combinations of leptons and jets in ATLAS to constrain the model parameters. These constraints are then used to assess the statistical accuracy with which quantities such as the Dark Matter relic density and d…
Improved Big Bang Nucleosynthesis constraints on decaying massive relics
Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY（德国电子同步加速器）；Dipartimento di Fisica, Sapienza Università di Roma & Sezione INFN Roma1（罗马第一大学物理系与INFN罗马一分部）；Service de Physique Théorique, Université Libre de Bruxelles（布鲁塞尔自由大学理论物理服务处）；CP3-Origins, University of Southern Denmark（南丹麦大学CP3起源中心）
We present the full $\mathcal{O}(α_s)$ supersymmetric QCD corrections for stop-anti-stop annihilation into electroweak final states within the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (MSSM). We also incorporate Coulomb corrections due to gluon exchange between the incoming stops. Numerical results for the annihilation cross sections and the predicted neutralino relic density are presented. We show that the impact of the radiative corrections on the cosmologically preferred region of the parameter space can become larger than the current experimental uncertainty, shifting the relic bands within t…
We suggest a new large-N_c limit for multi flavor QCD. Since fundamental and two-index antisymmetric representations are equivalent in SU(3), we have the option to define SU(N_c) QCD keeping quarks in the latter. We can then define a new 1/N_c expansion (at fixed number of flavors N_f) that shares appealing properties with the topological (fixed N_f/N_c) expansion while being more suitable for theoretical analysis. In particular, for N_f=1, our large-N_c limit gives a theory that we recently proved to be equivalent, in the bosonic sector, to N=1 supersymmetric gluodynamics. Using known propert…
Relic density calculations are often used to constrain particle physics models, and in particular supersymmetry. We will show that the presence of additional energy or entropy before the Big-Bang nucleosynthesis can however completely change the relic density constraints on the SUSY parameter space. Therefore one should be extremely careful when using the relic density to constrain supersymmetry as it could give misleading results, especially if combined with the future collider data. Alternatively, we will also show that combining the discoveries of the future colliders with relic density cal…
Big-Bang nucleosynthesis (BBN) represents one of the earliest phenomena that can lead to observational constraints on the early Universe properties. It is well-known that many important mechanisms and phase transitions occurred before BBN. We discuss the possibility of gaining insight into the primordial Universe through studies of dark matter in cosmology, astroparticle physics and colliders. For this purpose, we assume that dark matter is a thermal relic, and show that combining collider searches with dark matter observables can lead to strong constraints on the period of freeze-out before B…
A host of dark energy models and non-standard cosmologies predict an enhanced Hubble rate in the early Universe: perfectly viable models, which satisfy Big Bang Nucleosynthesis (BBN), cosmic microwave background and general relativity tests, may nevertheless lead to enhancements of the Hubble rate up to many orders of magnitude. In this paper we show that strong bounds on the pre-BBN evolution of the Universe may be derived, under the assumption that dark matter is a thermal relic, by combining the dark matter relic density bound with constraints coming from the production of cosmic-ray antipr…
We have analysed the early LHC signatures of the minimal supergravity (mSUGRA) model. Our emphasis is on the 7 - $TeV$ run corresponding to an integrated luminosity of $\sim 1.0 ~fb^{-1}$ although we have also discussed briefly the prospects at LHC-10 $TeV$. We focus on the parameter space yielding relatively light squark and gluinos consistent with the darkmatter relic density data and the LEP bounds on the lightest Higgs scalar mass. This parameter space is only allowed for non-vanishing trilinear soft breaking term $A_0$. A significant region of the parameter space with large to moderate ne…
In Split-SUSY with BRpV we show that the Gravitino DM solution is consistent with experimental evidence on its relic density and life time. We arrive at this conclusion by performing a complete numerical and algebraic study of the parameter space, including constraints from the recently determined Higgs mass, updated neutrino physics, and BBN constraints on NLSP decays. The Higgs mass requires a relatively low Split-SUSY mass scale, which is naturally smaller than usual values for reheating temperature, allowing the use of the standard expression for the relic density. We include restrictions …
We study lepton flavor-violating (LFV) processes within a supersymmetric type-I seesaw framework with flavor-blind universal boundary conditions, properly accounting for the effect of the neutrino sector on the dark matter relic abundance. We consider several possibilities for the neutrino Yukawa coupling matrix and show that in regions of SUSY parameter space that yield the correct neutralino relic density, LFV rates can differ from naive estimates by up to two orders of magnitude. Contrary to common belief, we find that current LFV limits do not exclude neutrino Yukawa couplings larger than …
We study the neutralino relic density in the minimal supersymmetric standard model with natural light Higgs sector in which all Higgs masses, the supersymmetry (SUSY) breaking parameters, and the higgsino mass parameter mu are of order the weak scale. To realize this situation we adopt nonuniversal Higgs masses at the grand unified scale. We show that in some parameter space in which the SUSY breaking parameters are comparatively small, not only the constraint from the observed relic density of dark matter but also the LEP Higgs bound and the constraint from the b ->s gamma process are satisfi…
We study supersymmetric (SUSY) models in which the muon $g-2$ discrepancy and the dark matter relic abundance are simultaneously explained. The muon $g-2$ discrepancy, or a 3$σ$ deviation between the experimental and theoretical results of the muon anomalous magnetic moment, can be resolved by SUSY models, which implies at least three SUSY multiplets have masses of $\mathop{\mathcal{O}}(100)\, \mathrm{GeV}$. In particular, models with the bino, higgsino and slepton having $\mathop{\mathcal{O}}(100)\, \mathrm{GeV}$ masses are not only capable to explain the muon $g-2$ discrepancy but naturally …
We investigate dark matter in a constrained $E_6$ inspired supersymmetric model with an exact custodial symmetry and compare with the CMSSM. The breakdown of $E_6$ leads to an additional $U(1)_N$ symmetry and a discrete matter parity. The custodial and matter symmetries imply there are two stable dark matter candidates, though one may be extremely light and contribute negligibly to the relic density. We demonstrate that a predominantly Higgsino, or mixed bino-Higgsino, neutralino can account for all of the relic abundance of dark matter, while fitting a 125 GeV SM-like Higgs and evading LHC li…
We examine some conditions which are needed to allow the Peccei-Quinn scale (f_a) as high as the SUSY GUT scale (M_{GUT} \sim 10^{16} GeV) in the context of the PQMSSM with either an axino or a neutralino LSP. The main problem in non-SUSY models with f_a\sim M_{GUT} is the generation of an overabundance of axion dark matter (\sim f_a^{7/6}) due to vacuum misalignment. We show that once all the components of the axion supermultiplet are included, the upper limit on f_a can be evaded due to large entropy injection from saxion decays. This large entropy injection also dilutes all other quasi-stab…
Assuming the lightest neutralino forms dark matter, we study its residual annihilation after freeze-out at the early universe. If taking place after the big bang nucleosynthesis (BBN) the annihilation products, especially at the hadronic modes, may cause nonthermal nuclear reaction and change the prediction of the primordial abundance of light elements in the standard BBN scenario. We therefore put constraints on the neutralino annihilation cross section. These constraints are free of the uncertainties of the dark matter profile today suffered by direct or indirect detection of dark matter. We…
We extend the commonly used mSUGRA framework to allow complex soft terms. We show how these phases can induce large changes of the SUSY threshold corrections to the b quark mass and affect the neutralino relic density predictions of the model. We present some specific models with large SUSY phases which can accommodate the fermion electric dipole moment constraints and a neutralino relic density within the WMAP bounds.
Supersymmetric grand unified models based on the gauge group SO(10) are especially attractive in light of recent data on neutrino masses. The simplest SO(10) SUSY GUT models predict unification of third generation Yukawa couplings in addition to the usual gauge coupling unification. Recent surveys of Yukawa unified SUSY GUT models predict an inverted scalar mass hierarchy in the spectrum of sparticle masses if the superpotential mu term is positive. In general, such models tend to predict an overabundance of dark matter in the universe. We survey several solutions to the dark matter problem in…
