We present the computation of the loop-induced self-annihilation of dark matter particles into two photons in the framework of the NMSSM. This process is a theoretically clean observable with a "smoking-gun" signature but is experimentally very challenging to detect. The rates were computed with the help of the SloopS program, an automatic code initially designed for the evaluation of processes at the one-loop level in the MSSM. We focused on a light neutralino scenario and discuss how the signal can be enhanced in the NMSSM with respect to the MSSM and then compared with the present limits given by the dedicated search of the FERMI-LAT satellite on the monochromatic gamma lines.
In this work we present the computation of the Higgs decay into a photon and a $Z^0$ boson at one-loop level in the framework of the Next-to-Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (NMSSM). The numerical evaluation of this decay width was performed within the framework of the SloopS code, orginally developped for the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (MSSM) but which was recently extended to deal with the NMSSM. Thanks to the high level of automation of SloopS all contributions from the various sector of the NMSSM are consistently taken into account, in particular the non-diagonal chargino a…
We study spectral features in the gamma-ray emission from dark matter (DM) annihilation in the Next-to-Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (NMSSM), with either neutralino or right-handed (RH) sneutrino DM. We perform a series of scans over the NMSSM parameter space, compute the DM annihilation cross section into two photons and the contribution of box-shaped features, and compare them with the limits derived from the Fermi-LAT search for gamma-ray lines using the latest Pass 8 data. We implement the LHC bounds on the Higgs sector and on the masses of supersymmetric particles as well as the c…
There is a possible γ-ray signal at 130 GeV coming from the Galactic Center as seen by Fermi-LAT experiment. We give a SUSY dark matter model to explain this γ-ray feature in NMSSM. We show that in NMSSM, one can have a benchmark set in which the γ-ray signal arises from final state γ's in the $χχ\to f \bar f γ$ annihilation of a 130 GeV bino dark matter requiring a boost factor of ~590 to fit the γ-ray signal. In addition, this benchmark set also gives the correct relic density, lightest Higgs mass of 125 GeV and is consistent with constraints on SUSY from LHC. This dark matter model evades t…
The Galactic Center Excess (GCE) is explained in the framework of the Next-to-Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (NMSSM) with a $Z_3$ discrete symmetry. We show that a resonant CP-odd Higgs boson with mass twice that of the Dark Matter (DM) candidate is favoured. Meanwhile, the DM candidate is required to have relatively large coupling with the $Z$ boson through its Higgsino component in order to obtain correct DM relic density. Its LHC discovery potential via four signatures is discussed in detail. We find that the most sensitive signals are provided by the Higgsino-like chargino and neutr…
We propose an experimental test of a scenario in the Next-to-Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model in which both the lightest scalar and the lightest pseudoscalar Higgs bosons have masses around 125 GeV. The pseudoscalar can contribute significantly to the gamma.gamma rate at the LHC due to light Higgsino-like charginos in its effective one-loop coupling to two photons. Such charginos are obtained for small values of the mu_eff parameter which also results in enhanced b.b-bar and tau+.tau- rates compared to those expected for a Standard Model Higgs boson. This scenario should result in a clear…
In the Next-to-Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (NMSSM), all singlet-dominated particles including one neutralino, one CP-odd Higgs boson and one CP-even Higgs boson can be simultaneously lighter than about 100 GeV. Consequently, dark matter (DM) in the NMSSM can annihilate into multiple final states to explain the galactic center gamma-ray excess (GCE). In this work we take into account the foreground and background uncertainties for the GCE and investigate these explanations. We carry out a sophisticated scan over the NMSSM parameter space by considering various experimental constraints…
The Weakly Interacting Massive Particle (WIMP) has been one of the most attractive candidates for Dark Matter (DM), and the lightest neutralino ($\widetildeχ^0_1$) in the Next-to-Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (NMSSM) is an interesting realization of WIMP. The Galactic Center Excess (GCE) can be explained by WIMP DM annihilations in the sky. In this work we consider the $Z_3$-NMSSM where the singlet $S$ and Singlino $\widetilde{S}^0$ components play important roles in the Higgs and DM sector. Guided by our analytical arguments, we perform a numerical scan over the NMSSM parameter space …
Recent LHC data suggest an excess in the Higgs decay channels into gamma gamma, W W and Z Z at roughly 125 GeV. The current excess in the diphoton channel is twice that expected from a Standard Model Higgs; whilst this may well change with more statistics, it is interesting to consider the implications should the result persist. Here, we assess whether the NMSSM with a neutralino dark matter candidate could explain this excess when astrophysical constraints (e.g. no overproduction of gamma rays and radio emission in the galaxy, no anomalous excess in the dark matter direct detection experiment…
We explore the prospects for indirect detection of neutralino dark matter in supersymmetric models with an extended Higgs sector (NMSSM). We compute, for the first time, one-loop amplitudes for NMSSM neutralino pair annihilation into two photons and two gluons, and point out that extra diagrams (with respect to the MSSM), featuring a potentially light CP-odd Higgs boson exchange, can strongly enhance these radiative modes. Expected signals in neutrino telescopes due to the annihilation of relic neutralinos in the Sun and in the Earth are evaluated, as well as the prospects of detection of a ne…
The galactic center excess of gamma ray photons can be naturally explained by light Majorana fermions in combination with a pseudoscalar mediator. The NMSSM provides exactly these ingredients. We show that for neutralinos with a significant singlino component the galactic center excess can be linked to invisible decays of the Standard-Model-like Higgs at the LHC. We find predictions for invisible Higgs branching ratios in excess of 50 percent, easily accessible at the LHC. Constraining the NMSSM through GUT-scale boundary conditions only slightly affects this expectation. Our results complemen…
We update constraints from B physics observables on the parameters of the MSSM and the NMSSM, combining them with LEP constraints. Presently available SM and Susy radiative corrections are included in the calculations, which will be made public in the form of a Fortran code. Results for the tan(beta) and M_{H^+} dependence of b -> s gamma are presented, as well as constraints on the NMSSM specific case of a light CP odd Higgs scalar. We find that the latter are essentially due to B_s -> mu^+ mu^-, but they do not exclude this possibility.
Many particle physics models attempt to explain the 130 GeV gamma-ray feature that the Fermi-LAT observes in the Galactic Center. Neutralino dark matter in non-minimal supersymmetric models, such as the NMSSM, is an especially well-motivated theoretical setup which can explain the line. We explore the possibility that regions of the NMSSM consistent with the 130 GeV line can also produce the observed baryon asymmetry of the universe via electroweak baryogenesis. We find that such regions can in fact accommodate a strongly first-order electroweak phase transition (due to the singlet contributio…
We study the phenomenological viability of a constrained NMSSM with parameters subject to unified boundary conditions from F-theory GUTs. We find that very simple assumptions about modulus dominance SUSY breaking in F-theory unification lead to a predictive set of boundary conditions, consistent with all phenomenological constraints. The second lightest scalar Higgs H_2 can get a mass m_{H_2} ~ 125 GeV and has properties similar to the SM Higgs. On the other hand the lightest scalar H_1, with a dominant singlet component, would have barely escaped detection at LEP and could be observable at LH…
We study the associated production of selectrons and neutralinos with subsequent leptonic decay of the selectron in eγscattering within the framework of MSSM and NMSSM. Due to the weak couplings of singlino dominated neutralinos, associated neutralino production e^+ + e^- -> neutralino_1 + neutralino_2 at a linear collider can be strongly suppressed in some regions of the parameter space. Then the process e + gamma -> selectron_{L/R} + neutralino_{1/2} -> e + neutralino_{1/2} + neutralino_1 can give additional informations on the underlying theory and the character of neutralino_1 and neutrali…
We examine whether the cosmic ray positron excess observed by PAMELA can be explained by neutralino annihilation in the Next-to-Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (NMSSM). The main dark matter annihilation products are the lightest CP-even scalar h1 plus the lightest CP-odd scalar a1, with the a1 decaying into two muons. The energetic positrons needed to explain PAMELA are thus obtained in the NMSSM simply from kinematics. The required large annihilation cross section is obtained from an s-channel resonance with the heavier CP-odd scalar a2. Various experiments constrain the PAMELA-favored …
Recent results from direct and indirect searches for dark matter (DM) have motivated the study of particle physics models that can provide weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs) in the mass range 1-50 GeV. Viable candidates for light WIMP DM must fulfil stringent constraints. On the one hand, the observation at the LHC of a Higgs boson with Standard Model properties set an upper bound on the coupling of light DM particles to the Higgs, thereby making it difficult to reproduce the correct relic abundance. On the other hand, the recent results from direct searches in the CDMSlite, SuperCDM…
The gamma-ray excess observed by the Fermi-LAT in the Galactic Center can be interpreted by the dark matter annihilation to $b\bar{b}$ via a light pseudoscalar in the NMSSM. It is interesting to note that the corresponding singlet scalar is useful to achieve a strongly first order phase transition required by the electroweak baryogenesis. In this paper, we investigate the possibility that the NMSSM model can simultaneously accommodate these two issues. The phase transition strength can be characterized by the vacua energy gap at zero temperature and be sufficiently enhanced by the tree-level e…
We investigate the capability of directional detectors to probe neutralino dark matter in the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model and the Next-to-Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model with parameters defined at the weak scale. We show that directional detectors such as the future MIMAC detector will probe spin dependent dark matter scattering on nucleons that are beyond the reach of current spin independent detectors. The complementarity between indirect searches, in particular using gamma rays from dwarf spheroidal galaxies, spin dependent and spin independent direct search techniques is em…
We consider a singlet Dirac fermion with Peccei-Quinn(PQ) symmetry as dark matter. A singlet complex scalar is introduced to mediate between dark matter and the SM through Higgs portal interaction and electroweak PQ anomalies. We show that a resonant annihilation of dark matter with axion mediation can explain the monochromatic photon line of the Fermi LAT data at 130 GeV by anomaly interactions while the annihilation cross section with Higgs portal interaction is p-wave suppressed. We discuss the interplay between the direct detection of the fermion dark matter and the collider search of Higg…
Motivated by recent claims of lines in the Fermi gamma-ray spectrum, we critically examine means of enhancing neutralino annihilation into neutral gauge bosons. The signal can be boosted while remaining consistent with continuum photon constraints if a new singlet-like pseudoscalar is present. We consider singlet extensions of the MSSM, focusing on the NMSSM, where a `well-tempered' neutralino can explain the lines while remaining consistent with current constraints. We adopt a complementary numerical and analytic approach throughout in order to gain intuition for the underlying physics. The s…
Recent results from direct detection experiments (Dama, CoGeNT), though subject to debate, seem to point toward a low mass (few GeV) dark matter (DM) particle. However, low mass DM candidates are not easily achieved in the MSSM nor NMSSM. As shown by some authors, singlet extensions of the MSSM can lead to GeV mass neutralinos and satisfy relic abundance constraints. We propose here to extract indirect detection constraints on these models in a generic way from cosmic-ray anti-proton measurements (PAMELA data)
We consider a Dirac singlet fermion as thermal dark matter for explaining the X-ray line in the context of a supersymmetric Higgs-portal model or a generalized Dirac NMSSM. The Dirac singlet fermion gets a mass splitting due to their Yukawa couplings to two Higgs doublets and their superpartners, Higgsinos, after electroweak symmetry breaking. We show that a correct relic density can be obtained from thermal freeze-out, due to the co-annihilation with Higgsinos for the same Yukawa couplings. We discuss the phenomenology of the Higgsinos in this model such as displaced vertices at the LHC.
The gamma-ray line from dark matter (DM) annihilation is too weak to observe, but its observation will uncover much information, e.g., the DM mass and an nomalously large annihilation rate $\sim0.1$ pb into di-photon. In this work, we construct a minimal effective theory (EFT) incorporating DM and heavier charged particles. A large annihilation rate is obtained from operator coefficients with resonance or strong coupling enhancement. The EFT is stringently constrained by the XENON100 and WMAP data. Without resonance, Dirac DM or colored charged particles are ruled out. It is pointed out that t…
We study the annihilating dark matter contribution to the extra-galactic diffuse gamma-ray background spectrum, motivated by the recent observations of cosmic-ray positron/electron anomalies. The observed diffuse gamma-ray flux provides stringent constraint on dark matter models and we present upper bounds on the annihilation cross section of the dark matter. It is found that for the case of cored dark matter halo profile, the diffuse gamma-rays give more stringent bound compared with gamma-rays from the Galactic center. The Fermi satellite will make the bound stronger.
Some direct detection experiments have recently collected excess events that could be interpreted as a dark matter (DM) signal, pointing to particles in the $\sim$10 GeV mass range. We show that scenarios in which DM can self-annihilate with significant couplings to quarks are likely excluded by the cosmic-ray (CR) antiproton data, provided the annihilation is S-wave dominated when DM decouples in the early universe. These limits apply to most of supersymmetric candidates, eg in the minimal supersymmetric standard model (MSSM) and in the next-to-MSSM (NMSSM), and more generally to any thermal …
The gamma-ray excess observed from the Galactic Center can be interpreted as dark matter particles annihilating into Standard Model fermions with a cross section near that expected for a thermal relic. Although many particle physics models have been shown to be able to account for this signal, the fact that this particle has not yet been observed in direct detection experiments somewhat restricts the nature of its interactions. One way to suppress the dark matter's elastic scattering cross section with nuclei is to consider models in which the dark matter is part of a hidden sector. In such mo…
Modeling electromagnetic cascades during gamma-ray transport is important in many applications within astrophysics. This document introduces $γ$-Cascade, a publicly available Mathematica package which allows users to calculate observed gamma-ray fluxes from point sources as well as from a distribution of sources. $γ$-Cascade semi-analytically computes the effects of electromagnetic interactions during gamma-ray transport.
We argue that gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) may be the origin of the cosmic gamma-ray background radiation observed in GeV range. It has theoretically been discussed that protons may carry a much larger amount of energy than electrons in GRBs, and this large energy can be radiated in TeV range by synchrotron radiation of ultra-high-energy protons (\sim 10^{20} eV). The possible detection of GRBs above 10 TeV suggested by the Tibet and HEGRA groups also supports this idea. If this is the case, most of TeV gamma-rays from GRBs are absorbed in intergalactic fields and eventually form GeV gamma-ray back…
Gamma Ray Bursts (GRBs) have been proposed as one {\it possible} class of sources of the Ultrahigh Energy Cosmic Ray (UHECR) events observed up to energies $\gsim10^{20}\ev$. The synchrotron radiation of the highest energy protons accelerated within the GRB source should produce gamma rays up to TeV energies. Here we briefly discuss the implications on the energetics of the GRB from the point of view of the detectability of the prompt TeV gamma rays of proton-synchrotron origin in GRBs in the up-coming ICECUBE muon detector in the south pole.
Distance measurements of gamma-ray pulsars are challenging questions in present pulsar studies. The Large Area Telescope (LAT) aboard the Fermi gamma-ray observatory discovered more than 70 gamma-ray pulsars including 24 new gamma-selected pulsars which nearly have no distance information. We study the relation between gamma-ray emission efficiency ($η=L_γ/\dot E$) and pulsar parameters for young radio-selected gamma-ray pulsars with known distance information in the first gamma-ray pulsar catalog reported by Fermi/LAT. We have introduced three generation order parameters to describe gamma-ray…
Protons accelerated in the internal shocks of a long duration gamma ray burst can escape the fireball as cosmic rays by converting to neutrons. Hadronic interactions of these neutrons inside a stellar wind bubble created by the progenitor star will produce TeV gamma rays via neutral meson decay and synchrotron radiation by charged pion-decay electrons in the wind magnetic field. Such gamma rays should be observable from nearby gamma ray bursts by currently running and upcoming ground-based detectors.
Recent observations with the large air shower arrays of ultra high energy cosmic rays (UHECR) and recent measurements/estimates of the redshifts of gamma ray bursts (GRBs) seem to rule out extragalactic GRBs as the source of the cosmic rays that are observed near Earth, including those with the highest energies.
Recent observations from the Swift gamma-ray burst mission indicate that a fraction of gamma ray bursts are characterized by a canonical behaviour of the X-ray afterglows. We present an effective theory which allows us to account for X-ray light curves of both (short - long) gamma ray bursts and X-ray rich flashes. We propose that gamma ray bursts originate from massive magnetic powered pulsars.
The complex interplay of processes at the Galactic Center is at the heart of numerous past, present, and (likely) future mysteries. We aim at a more complete understanding of how spectra extending to >10 TeV result. We first construct a simplified model to account for the peculiar energy and angular dependence of the intense central parsec photon field. This allows for calculating anisotropic inverse Compton scattering and mapping gamma-ray extinction due to gamma gamma -> e^+ e^- attenuation. Coupling these with a method for evolving electron spectra, we examine several clear and present exce…
