We propose an economical model to explain the apparent 130 GeV gamma ray peak, found in the Fermi/LAT data, in terms of dark matter annihilation through a dipole moment interaction. The annihilating dark matter particles represent a subdominant component, with mass density 7-17% of the total DM density; and they only annihilate into gamma gamma, gamma Z, and ZZ, through a magnetic (or electric) dipole moment. Annihilation into other standard model particles is suppressed, due to a mass splitting in the magnetic dipole case, or to p-wave scattering in the electric dipole case. In either case, the observed signal requires a dipole moment of strength mu ~ 2/TeV. We argue that composite models are the preferred means of generating such a large dipole moment, and that the magnetic case is more natural than the electric one. We present a simple model involving a scalar and fermionic techniquark of a confining SU(2) gauge symmetry. We point out some generic challenges for getting such a model to work. The new physics leading to a sufficiently large dipole moment is below the TeV scale, indicating that the magnetic moment is not a valid effective operator for LHC physics, and that production of the strongly interacting constituents, followed by techni-hadronization, is a more likely signature than monophoton events. In particular, 4-photon events from the decays of bound state pairs are predicted.
I selectively review the theoretical properties and observational limits pertaining to dark atoms, as well as composite dark matter candidates bound by a confining gauge interaction: dark glueballs, glueballinos, mesons and baryons. Emphasis is given to cosmological, direct and indirect detection constraints.
In 2005 Sheldon Glashow has proposed his sinister model, opening the path to composite-dark-matter scenarios, in which heavy stable electrically charged particles bound in neutral atoms play the role of dark matter candidates. Though the general problem of new stable single charged particles, forming with ordinary electrons anomalous isotopes of hydrogen, turned out to be unresolvable in Glashow's scenario, this scenario stimulated development of composite dark matter models, which can avoid the trouble of anomalous isotope overproduction. In the simplest case composite dark matter may consist…
We study neutral dark matter candidates with a nonzero magnetic dipole moment. We assume that they are composite states of new fermions related to the strong phase of a new gauge interaction. In particular, invoking a dark flavor symmetry, we analyze the composition structure of viable candidates depending on the assignations of hypercharge and the multiplets associated to the fundamental constituents of the extended sector. We determine the magnetic dipole moments for the neutral composite states in terms of their constituents masses.
Cold interstellar gas clouds provide an exciting new method to discover dark matter. Their immense size makes them uniquely sensitive to interactions from the heaviest, most rarefied dark matter models. Using gas cloud observations, we derive constraints on heavy composite dark matter coupled to the Standard Model through a light dark photon for dark matter up to a thousand solar masses. We find gas clouds are also sensitive to very large composite dark matter that interacts with nuclei through a fixed contact interaction cross section. We also study the contact interaction model and implement…
We propose a novel class of composite models that feature both a technicolor and a composite Higgs vacuum limit, resulting in an asymmetric dark matter candidate. These Techni-Composite Higgs models are based on an extended left-right electroweak symmetry with a pseudo-Nambu Goldstone boson Higgs and stable dark matter candidates charged under a global $\mathrm{U}(1)_X$ symmetry, connected to the baryon asymmetry at high temperatures via the $SU(2)_{\rm R}$ sphaleron. We consider, as explicit examples, four-dimensional gauge theories with fermions charged under a new confining gauge group $G_{…
Secluded Dark Composites and Remnant Binding Fields
PRISMA Cluster of Excellence & Mainz Institute for Theoretical Physics, Johannes Gutenberg University（PRISMA卓越集群与美因茨理论物理研究所，约翰内斯·古腾堡大学）；Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics（perimeter理论物理研究所）
We examine the dark matter phenomenology of a composite electroweak singlet state. This singlet belongs to the Goldstone sector of a well-motivated extension of the Littlest Higgs with $T$-parity. A viable parameter space, consistent with the observed dark matter relic abundance as well as with the various collider, electroweak precision and dark matter direct detection experimental constraints is found for this scenario. $T$-parity implies a rich LHC phenomenology, which forms an interesting interplay between conventional natural SUSY type of signals involving third generation quarks and miss…
Dark Matter could be a composite state of a confining sector with an approximate scale symmetry. We consider the case where the associated pseudo-Goldstone boson, the dilaton, mediates its interactions with the Standard Model. When the confining phase transition in the early universe is supercooled, its dynamics allows for Dark Matter masses up to $10^6$ TeV. We derive the precise parameter space compatible with all experimental constraints, finding that this scenario can be tested partly by telescopes and entirely by gravitational waves.
The ATLAS and CMS experiments at LHC observe small excesses of diphoton events with invariant mass around 750 GeV. Here we study the possibility of nearly parity degenerate and vector-scalar degenerate spectra as well as composite dynamics in 2 scenarios for explaining the excess: Production of a pseudo-scalar via gluon or photon fusion or via decay of a parent particle together with soft additional final states. We discuss possible underlying realizations of the scenarios motivated by dynamical models of electroweak symmetry breaking (without new coloured states) and fermion masses.
We review models of new physics in which dark matter arises as a composite bound state from a confining strongly-coupled non-Abelian gauge theory. We discuss several qualitatively distinct classes of composite candidates, including dark mesons, dark baryons, and dark glueballs. We highlight some of the promising strategies for direct detection, especially through dark moments, using the symmetries and properties of the composite description to identify the operators that dominate the interactions of dark matter with matter, as well as dark matter self-interactions. We briefly discuss the impli…
We study the dark matter phenomenology of non-minimal composite Higgs models with $SO(7)$ broken to the exceptional group $G_2$. In addition to the Higgs, three pseudo-Nambu-Goldstone bosons arise, one of which is electrically neutral. A parity symmetry is enough to ensure this resonance is stable. In fact, if the breaking of the Goldstone symmetry is driven by the fermion sector, this $\mathbb{Z}_2$ symmetry is automatically unbroken in the electroweak phase. In this case, the relic density, as well as the expected indirect, direct and collider signals are then uniquely determined by the valu…
We introduce a new paradigm in Composite Dark Sectors, where the full Standard Model (including the Higgs boson) is extended with a strongly-interacting composite sector with global symmetry group $\mathcal{G}$ spontaneously broken to $\mathcal{H}\subset \mathcal{G}$. We show that, under well-motivated conditions, the lightest neutral pseudo Nambu-Goldstone bosons are natural dark matter candidates for they are protected by a parity symmetry not even broken in the electroweak phase. These models are characterized by only two free parameters, namely the typical coupling $g_D$ and the scale $f_D…
Very Heavy and Composite Dark Matter: Theory and Experimental Searches
Arthur B. McDonald Canadian Astroparticle Physics Research Institute（阿瑟·B·麦克唐纳加拿大高能粒子物理研究所）；Queen’s University（女王大学）；Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics（基础物理前沿研究所）
We study a model of scalars which includes both the SM Higgs and a scalar singlet as composites of heavy vector-like fermions. The vector-like fermions are bounded by the super-strong four-fermion interactions. The scalar singlet decays to SM vector bosons through loop of heavy vector-like fermions. We show that the surprisingly large production cross section of di-photon events at 750 GeV resonance and the odd decay properties can all be explained. This model serves as a good model for both SM Higgs and a scalar resonance at 750 GeV.
We study the effective field theory (including operators up to dimension five) of models in which dark matter is composite, consisting of either an electroweak doublet Dirac fermion (`higgsino-like dark matter') or an electroweak triplet Majorana fermion (`wino-like dark matter'). Some of the dimension-five operators in the former case cause mass splittings between the neutralino and chargino states, leading to a depleted rate of coannihilations and viable thermal relic dark matter with masses of the order of tens to hundreds of GeV rather than the usual pure higgsino thermal relic mass of 1 T…
It has been suggested that cold dark matter (CDM) has difficulties in explaining tentative evidence for noncuspy halo profiles in small galaxies, and the low velocity dispersions observed in the largest Milky Way satellites ("too big to fail" problem). Strongly self-interacting dark matter has been noted as a robust solution to these problems. The elastic cross sections required are much larger than predicted by generic CDM models, but could naturally be of the right size if dark matter is composite. We explore in a general way the constraints on models where strongly interacting CDM is in the…
The leptons, quarks and weak bosons are bound states of new constituents. An isosinglet weak boson should exist, the X particle, which might have a mass of about 400 GeV and a width of about 20 GeV.
We explore the possibility of explaining the recent $\sim 750$ GeV excesses observed by ATLAS and CMS in the $γγ$ spectrum in the context of a compelling theory of Naturalness. The potential spin-zero resonance responsible for the excesses also requires the existence of new heavy charged states. We show that both such features are naturally realized in a see-saw Composite Higgs model for EWSB, where the new pseudo-Goldstone bosons are expected to be comparatively heavier than the SM Higgs, and the new fermions have masses in the TeV range. If confirmed, the existence of this new resonance coul…
We study under which conditions a scalar particle is a viable WIMP Dark Matter candidate with Higgs and dilaton interactions. The theory is a composite Higgs model with top partial compositeness where both the Higgs and the Dark Matter candidate arise as pseudo Goldstone boson of the coset SO(6)/SO(5) from a new physics sector. We highlight the role of the dilaton in direct and indirect searches. We find that a Dark Matter particle with a mass around 200-400 GeV and a relatively light dilaton are a fair prediction of the model.
The three weak bosons are bound states of two fermions and their antiparticles. There exist also two bound states of three fermions. One of them is neutral and stable. This particle provides the dark matter in our universe.
We propose a low scale leptogenesis scenario in the framework of composite Higgs models supplemented with singlet heavy neutrinos. One of the neutrinos can also be considered as a dark matter candidate whose stability is guaranteed by a discrete $\mathbb{Z}_2 $ symmetry of the model. In the spectrum of the strongly coupled system, bound states heavier than the pseudo Nambu-Goldstone Higgs boson can exist. Due to the decay of these states to heavy right-handed neutrinos, an asymmetry in the visible and dark sector is simultaneously generated. The resulting asymmetry is transferred to the standa…
A new dynamic is identified between dark matter and nuclei. Nuclei accelerated to MeV energies by the internal potential of composite dark matter can undergo nuclear fusion. This effect arises in simple models of composite dark matter made of heavy fermions bound by a light scalar field. Cosmologies and detection prospects are explored for composites that catalyze nuclear reactions in underground detectors and stars, including bremsstrahlung radiation from nuclei scattering against electrons in hot plasma formed in the composite interior. If discovered and collected, this kind of composite dar…
Composite asymmetric dark matter scenarios naturally explain why the dark matter mass density is comparable with the visible matter mass density. Such scenarios generically require some entropy transfer mechanism below the composite scale; otherwise, their late-time cosmology is incompatible with observations. A tiny kinetic mixing between a dark photon and the visible photon is a promising example of the low-energy portal. In this paper, we demonstrate that grand unifications in the dark and the visible sectors explain the origin of the tiny kinetic mixing. We particularly consider an ultravi…
We propose a novel mechanism in composite models that provides self-interacting dark matter along with the Higgs itself as composite particles, alleviating the Standard Model naturalness problem and explaining small-scale discrepancies such as the core-cusp and "too big to fail" problems. These dark matter candidates are stable due to global U(1) symmetries of the composite dynamics and their strong self-interactions are created by the novel mechanism based on top-quark partial compositeness. The relic density of the dark matter candidates is particle anti-particle symmetric and due to thermal…
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 $\mathrm{U}(1)$ 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 technic…
The asymmetric dark matter (ADM) scenario solves the baryon-dark matter coincidence problem when the dark matter (DM) mass is of $\mathcal{O}(1)$GeV. Composite ADM models based on QCD-like strong dynamics are particularly motivated since the strong dynamics naturally provides the DM mass of $\mathcal{O}(1)$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 …
Asymmetric dark matter (ADM) is an attractive framework relating the observed baryon asymmetry of the Universe to the dark matter density. A composite particle in a new strong dynamics is a promising candidate for ADM as the strong dynamics naturally explains the ADM mass in the GeV range. Its large annihilation cross section due to the strong dynamics leaves the asymmetric component to be dominant over the symmetric component. In such composite ADM scenarios, the dark sector has a relatively large entropy density in the early Universe. The large dark sector entropy results in the overclosure …
We study the thermodynamic history of composite Dark Matter models. We start with classifying the models by means of the symmetries partially protecting the composite Dark Matter decays and constrain their lifetimes. For each model, we determine the impact of number-changing and number-conserving operators on its thermal history. We also develop the analytic formalism to calculate the asymptotic abundance of stable relics. We show how the relative strength between number-changing and number-conserving interactions together with the dark plasma lifetime affect the thermal fate of the various co…
The Arthur B. McDonald Canadian Astroparticle Physics Research Institute, Department of Physics, Engineering Physics, and Astronomy, Queen’s University（阿瑟·B·麦克唐纳加拿大天体粒子物理研究所，女王大学物理、工程物理和天文学系）；Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics（理论物理珀蒂默研究所）；Department of Physics and McDonnell Center for the Space Sciences, Washington University（华盛顿大学物理系和麦克唐纳空间科学中心）；The Arthur B. McDonald Canadian Astroparticle Physics Research Institute, Department of Physics McGill University（阿瑟·B·麦克唐纳加拿大天体粒子物理研究所，麦吉尔大学物理系）
The LHC lifetime frontier will probe dark sector in near future, and the visible decay searches at fixed-target experiments have been exploring dark sector. Composite asymmetric dark matter with dark photon portal is a promising framework explaining the coincidence problem between dark matter and visible matter. Dark strong dynamics provides rich structure in the dark sector: the lightest dark nucleon is the dark matter, while strong annihilation into dark pions depletes the symmetric components of the dark matter. Dark photons alleviate cosmological problems. Meanwhile, dark photons make dark…
We study the non-minimal composite Higgs model with global symmetry $\text{SO}(7)$ broken to $\text{SO}(5)\times \text{SO}(2)$. 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 preci…
The asymmetric dark matter (ADM) scenario can solve the coincidence problem between the baryon and the dark matter (DM) abundance when the DM mass is of ${\cal O}(1)\,$GeV. In the ADM scenarios, composite dark matter is particularly motivated, as it can naturally provide the DM mass in the ${\cal O}(1)\,$GeV range and a large annihilation cross section simultaneously. In this paper, we discuss the indirect detection constraints on the composite ADM model. The portal operators connecting the $B-L$ asymmetries in the dark and the Standard Model(SM) sectors are assumed to be generated in associat…
A class of chiral gauge theories is studied with accidentally-stable pseudo Nambu-Goldstone bosons playing the role of dark matter (DM). The gauge group contains a vector-like dark color factor that confines at energies larger than the electroweak scale, and a ${\rm U}(1)_D$ factor that remains weakly coupled and is spontaneously broken. All new scales are generated dynamically, including the DM mass, and the IR dynamics is fully calculable. We analyze minimal models of this kind with dark fermions transforming as non-trivial vector-like representations of the Standard Model (SM) gauge group. …
