In the Littlest Higgs model with $T$ parity (LHT), the $T$-odd heavy photon ($A_H$) is weakly interacting and can play the role of dark matter. We investigate the lower limit on the mass of $A_H$ dark matter under the constraints from Higgs data, EWPOs, $R_b$, Planck 2015 dark matter relic abundance, PandaX-II/LUX 2016 direct detections and LHC-8 TeV monojet results. We find that (1) Higgs data, EWPOs and $R_b$ can exclude the mass of $A_H$ up to 99 GeV. To produce the correct dark matter relic abundance, $A_H$ has to co-annihilate with $T$-odd quarks ($q_H$) or leptons ($\ell_H$); (2) the LUX (PandaX-II) 2016 data can further exclude $m_{A_H}<380 (270)$ GeV for $\ell_H$-$A_H$ co-annihilation and $m_{A_H}<350 (240)$ GeV for $q_H-A_H$ co-annihilation; (3) LHC-8 TeV monojet result can give a strong lower limit, $m_{A_H}>540$ GeV, for $q_H$-$A_H$ co-annihilation; (4) future XENON1T (2017) experiment can fully cover the parameter space of $\ell_H$-$A_H$ co-annihilation and will push the lower limit of $m_{A_H}$ up to about 640 GeV for $q_H$-$A_H$ co-annihilation.
Dark matter (DM) direct detections are investigated for models with the following properties: isospin-violating couplings, exothermic scatterings, and/or a light mediator, with the aim to reduce the tension between the CDMS-Si positive signals and other negative searches. In particular, we focus on the non-standard effective operators which could lead to the spin-independent DM-nucleus scatterings with non-trivial dependences on the transfer momentum or DM velocity. As a result, such effective operator choices have the very mild effects on the final fittings. Furthermore, by including the late…
Direct searches for dark matter (DM) by the LUX and PandaX-II Collaborations employing xenon-based detectors have recently come up with the most stringent limits to date on the spin-independent elastic scattering of DM off nucleons. For Higgs-portal scalar DM models, the new results have precluded any possibility of accommodating low-mass DM as suggested by the DAMA and CDMS II Si experiments utilizing other target materials, even after invoking isospin-violating DM interactions with nucleons. In the simplest model, SM+D, which is the standard model plus a real singlet scalar named darkon acti…
Weakly interacting massive particles are a widely well-probed dark matter candidate by the dark matter direct detection experiments. Theoretically, there are a large number of ultraviolet completed models that consist of a weakly interacting massive particle dark matter. The variety of models makes the comparison with the direct detection data complicated and often non-trivial. To overcome this, in the non-relativistic limit, the effective theory was developed in the literature which works very well to significantly reduce the complexity of dark matter-nucleon interactions and to better study …
We report new searches for the solar axions and galactic axion-like dark matter particles, using the first low-background data from PandaX-II experiment at China Jinping Underground Laboratory, corresponding to a total exposure of about $2.7\times 10^4$ kg$\cdot$day. No solar axion or galactic axion-like dark matter particle candidate has been identified. The upper limit on the axion-electron coupling ($g_{Ae}$) from the solar flux is found to be about $4.35 \times 10^{-12}$ in mass range from $10^{-5}$ to 1 keV/$c^2$ with 90\% confidence level, similar to the recent LUX result. We also report…
Utilizing an exhaustive set of simplified models, we revisit dark matter scenarios potentially capable of generating the observed Galactic Center gamma-ray excess, updating constraints from the LUX and PandaX-II experiments, as well as from the LHC and other colliders. We identify a variety of pseudoscalar mediated models that remain consistent with all constraints. In contrast, dark matter candidates which annihilate through a spin-1 mediator are ruled out by direct detection constraints unless the mass of the mediator is near an annihilation resonance, or the mediator has a purely vector cou…
We revisit thermal Majorana dark matter from the viewpoint of minimal effective field theory. In this framework, analytic results for dark matter annihilation into standard model particles are derived. The dark matter parameter space subject to the latest LUX, PandaX-II and Xenon-1T limits is presented in a model-independent way. Applications to singlet-doublet and MSSM are presented.
We revisit the parameter space of singlet fermionic cold dark matter model in order to determine the role of the mixing angle between the standard model Higgs and new singlet one. Furthermore, we restudy the direct detection constraints with the updated and new experimental data. As an important conclusion, this model is completely excluded by recent XENON100, PandaX II and LUX data.
We study Dirac fermionic dark matter (DM, $χ^0$) and confront it with recent data. To evade the stringent direct search limits from PandaX-II, XENON1T and LUX experiments, the quantum numbers of the Dirac DM are taken to be $I_3=Y=0$ to remove the tree-level $Z$-exchange diagram. Loop amplitudes can contribute to the elastic scattering cross section. We find that there are cancellations in the one-loop diagrams, which largely reduce the cross section and make the Dirac DM viable in the direct search. For a generic isospin $I$, we survey the Dirac DM mass constrained by the latest results of Pa…
We study the naturalness, dark matter, and muon anomalous magnetic moment in the Supersymmetric Standard Models (SSMs) with a pseudo-Dirac gluino (PDGSSMs) from hybrid $F-$ and $D-$term supersymmetry (SUSY) breakings. To obtain the observed dark matter relic density and explain the muon anomalous magnetic moment, we find that the low energy fine-tuning measures are larger than about 30 due to strong constraints from the LUX and PANDAX experiments. Thus, to study the natural PDGSSMs, we consider multi-component dark matter and then the relic density of the lighest supersymmetric particle (LSP) …
We show that underground experiments like LUX/LZ, PandaX-II, XENON, and PICO could discover dark matter up to the Planck mass and beyond, with new searches for dark matter that scatters multiple times in these detectors. This opens up significant discovery potential via re-analysis of existing and future data. We also identify a new effect which substantially enhances experimental sensitivity to large dark matter scattering cross-sections: while passing through atmospheric or solid overburden, there is a maximum number of scatters that dark matter undergoes, determined by the total number of s…
Dark matter particles with masses in the sub-GeV range have escaped severe constraints from direct detection experiments such as LUX, PANDAX-II and XENON100 as the corresponding recoil energies are, largely, lower than the detector thresholds. In a companion paper, we demonstrated, in a model independent approach, that a significantly large fraction of the parameter space escapes the cosmological and astrophysical constraints. We show here, though, that the remaining parameter space lends itself to the possibility of discovery at both direct detection experiments (such as CRESST-II) as well as…
We present an updated halo-dependent and halo-independent analysis of viable light WIMP dark matter candidates which could account for the excess observed in CDMS-II-Si. We include recent constraints from LUX, PandaX-II, and PICO-60, as well as projected sensitivities for XENON1T, SuperCDMS SNOLAB, LZ, DARWIN, DarkSide-20k, and PICO-250, on candidates with spin-independent isospin conserving and isospin-violating interactions, and either elastic or exothermic scattering. We show that there exist dark matter candidates which can explain the CDMS-II-Si data and remain very marginally consistent …
Recent results from direct detection experiments such as LUX, PANDAX-II and XENON100 have imposed severe constraints on the multi-GeV mass window in various dark matter (DM) models. However, many of these experiments are not sensitive to MeV scale DM as the corresponding recoil energies are, largely, lower than the detector thresholds. Re-examining the light scalar DM in a model-independent approach, we find that while the parameter space can be constrained using cosmological and astrophysical observations, a significantly large fraction is still viable. We further demonstrate that the remaini…
We explore the ability of current and future dark matter and collider experiments in probing anomalous magnetic moment of the muon, $(g-2)_μ$, within the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (MSSM). We find that the latest PandaX-II/LUX-2016 data gives a strong constraint on parameter space that accommodates the $(g-2)_μ$ within $2σ$ range, which will be further excluded by the upcoming XENON-1T (2017) experiment. We also find that a 100 TeV $pp$ collider can cover most of our surviving samples that satisfy DM relic density within $3σ$ range through $Z$ or $h$ resonant effect by searching for…
Two experiments from the Fermilab, E989 and CDF II, have reported two anomalies for muon $g-2$ and $W$-boson mass that may indicate the new physics at the low energy scale. Here we examine the possibility of a common origin of these two anomalies in the Next-to-Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model. Considering various experimental and astrophysical constraints such as the Higgs mass, collider data, flavor physics, dark matter relic density, and direct detection experiments, we find that lighter electroweakinos and sleptons can generate sufficient contributions to muon $g-2$ and $m_W$. Moreove…
We propose a hybrid mediation and hybrid supersymmetry breaking. In particular the RG-invariant anomaly mediation is considered. Together with additional gravity mediation the slepton tachyon problem of anomaly mediation is solved automatically. The special properties are that all of color sparticles masses fall into several TeV region due to the large $m_0$ and $m_{32}$ which are well beyond the scope of current LHC Run II limits. Unlike the gauge mediation, the dark matter candidate is still the lightest neutralino and the correct dark matter relic density can be realized within the framewor…
We study a classically accidental scale-invariant extension of the Standard Model (SM) containing three additional fields, a vector leptoquark ($ V_μ $), a real scalar ($ ϕ$), and a neutral Majorana fermion ($ χ$) as a dark matter (DM) candidate. The scalar $ ϕ$ (scalon) and Majorana fermion $ χ$ are both singlets under the SM gauge group, while $ V_μ $ has (\textbf{3}, \textbf{1}, 2/3) quantum numbers under the $ SU(3)_{c} \times SU(2)_{L} \times U(1)_{Y} $. The Majorana DM couples to the SM sector via both Higgs and leptoquark portals. We perform a scan over the independent parameters to det…
The requirement of electroweak naturalness in supersymmetric (SUSY) models of particle physics necessitates light higgsinos not too far from the weak scale characterized by m(weak)~ m(W,Z,h)~100 GeV. On the other hand, LHC Higgs mass measurements and sparticle mass limits point to a SUSY breaking scale in the multi-TeV regime. Under such conditions, the lightest SUSY particle is expected to be a mainly higgsino-like neutralino with non-negligible gaugino components (required by naturalness). The computed thermal WIMP abundance in natural SUSY models is then found to be typically a factor 5-20 …
If dark matter (DM) particles are lighter than a few MeV/$c^2$ and can scatter off electrons, their interaction within the solar interior results in a considerable hardening of the spectrum of galactic dark matter received on Earth. For a large range of the mass vs. cross section parameter space, $\{m_e, σ_e\}$, the "reflected" component of the DM flux is far more energetic than the endpoint of the ambient galactic DM energy distribution, making it detectable with existing DM detectors sensitive to an energy deposition of $10-10^3$ eV. After numerically simulating the small reflected component…
We explore simple Higgs-portal models of dark matter (DM) with spin 1/2, 3/2, and 1, respectively, applying to them constraints from the LUX and PandaX-II direct detection experiments and from LHC measurements on the 125-GeV Higgs boson. With only one Higgs doublet, we find that the spin-1/2 DM having a purely scalar effective coupling to the doublet is viable only in a narrow range of mass near the Higgs pole, whereas the vector DM is still allowed if its mass is also close to the Higgs pole or exceeds 1.4 TeV, both in line with earlier analyses. Moreover, the spin-3/2 DM is in a roughly simi…
We propose an extension of the standard model with Majorana-type fermionic dark matters based on the flatland scenario where all scalar coupling constants, including scalar mass terms, vanish at the Planck scale, i.e. the scalar potential is flat above the Planck scale. This scenario could be compatible with the asymptotic safety paradigm for quantum gravity. We search the parameter space so that the model reproduces the observed values such as the Higgs mass, the electroweak vacuum and the relic abundance of dark matter. We also investigate the spin-independent elastic cross section for the M…
The first-year results from DEAP-3600, a single-phase liquid argon direct-detection dark matter experiment, were recently reported. At first sight, they seem to provide no new constraints, as the limit lies well within the region already excluded by three different xenon experiments: LUX, PandaX-II, and XENON1T. We point out, however, that this conclusion is not necessarily true, for it is based on the untested assumption that the dark matter particle couples equally to protons and neutrons. For the more general case of isosping-violating dark matter, we find that there are regions in the para…
We propose the family universal $U(1)_X$ models with three right-handed neutrinos by choosing the $U(1)_X$ gauge symmetry as a linear combination of $U(1)_Y\times U(1)_χ$ of $SO(10)$. To be consistent with the quantum gravity effects, we introduced a Dirac fermion $χ$ as a dark matter candidate, which is odd under the gauged $Z_2$ symmetry after $U(1)_X$ breaking. The isospin violation dark matter with $f_n/f_p = -0.7$ can be realized naturally, and thus the LUX, PANDAX, and XENON1T experimental constraints can be evaded. Moreover, we study the masses and mixings for Higgs and gauge bosons, co…
We present a comprehensive study of Majorana dark matter in a $U(1)_{B-L}$ gauge extension of the standard model, where three exotic fermions with $B-L$ charges as $-4, -4, +5$ are added to make the model free from the triangle gauge anomalies. The enriched scalar sector and the new heavy gauge boson $Z^{\prime},$ associated with the $U(1)_{B-L}$ symmetry make the model advantageous to be explored in dual portal scenarios for the search of dark matter signal. Diagonalizing the exotic fermion mass matrix, we obtain the Majorana mass eigenstates, of which the lightest one plays the role of dark …
Testing light and heavy vector mediators with solar CE$ν$NS measurements
Instituto de Física Corpuscular (IFIC), CSIC‐Universitat de Valéncia（粒子物理研究所（IFIC），西班牙科学委员会-瓦伦西亚大学）；University of Hamburg（汉堡大学）；Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (INFN), Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso（意大利国家核物理研究所（INFN），格兰萨索国家实验室）；Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México（墨西哥国立自治大学）；Gran Sasso Science Institute（格兰萨索科学研究所）
We describe a likelihood analysis using MasterCode of variants of the MSSM in which the soft supersymmetry-breaking parameters are assumed to have universal values at some scale $M_{in}$ below the supersymmetric grand unification scale $M_{GUT}$, as can occur in mirage mediation and other models. In addition to $M_{in}$, such `sub-GUT' models have the 4 parameters of the CMSSM, namely a common gaugino mass $m_{1/2}$, a common soft supersymmetry-breaking scalar mass $m_0$, a common trilinear mixing parameter $A$ and the ratio of MSSM Higgs vevs $\tanβ$, assuming that the Higgs mixing parameter …
The 331 model with right-handed neutrinos is re-assessed to investigate the CP violation in the quark sector. After the spontaneous symmetry breaking, the masses and physical fields of the particle content are obtained. The fermions content of the 331 model is enlarged to include exotic quarks with known electric charge and with masses defined at the TeV scale. The existence of these exotic quarks induces extra CP violations via couplings with quarks of the Standard Model mediated by charged gauge boson with mass fixed at the TeV scale. An extra discrete $\mathbb{Z}_{2}$ symmetry is introduced…
Natural Next-to-Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (nNMSSM) is featured by predicting one CP-even Higgs boson satisfying $m_{h_1} \lesssim 120 \,{\rm GeV}$ and Higgsinos lighter than about 300 GeV, and consequently the cross section for DM-nucleon scattering in this scenario is usually quite large. We study the diphoton signal of the light Higgs boson in nNMSSM by considering the tight constraints from the latest LUX and PandaX-II experiments, and we conclude that the optimal value of the signal rate at 8 TeV LHC is greatly reduced in comparison with earlier predictions. For example, previo…
The $Z_3$-invariant next-to-minimal supersymmetric standard model (NMSSM) can provide a candidate for dark matter (DM). It can also be used to explain the hypothesis that the Higgs signal observed on the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) comes from the contribution of the two lightest CP-even Higgs bosons, whose masses are near 125 GeV. At present, XENON1T, LUX, and PandaX experiments have imposed very strict restrictions on direct collision cross sections of {dark matter}. In this paper, we consider a scenario that the observed Higgs signal is the superposition of two mass-degenerate Higgs in the $…
One of the simplest viable models for dark matter is an additional neutral scalar, stabilised by a $\mathbb{Z}_2$ symmetry. Using the GAMBIT package and combining results from four independent samplers, we present Bayesian and frequentist global fits of this model. We vary the singlet mass and coupling along with 13 nuisance parameters, including nuclear uncertainties relevant for direct detection, the local dark matter density, and selected quark masses and couplings. We include the dark matter relic density measured by Planck, direct searches with LUX, PandaX, SuperCDMS and XENON100, limits …
The semi-constrained NMSSM (scNMSSM) extends the MSSM by a singlet field, and requires unification of the soft SUSY breaking terms in the squark and slepton sectors, while it allows that in the Higgs sector to be different. We try to interpret the muon g-2 in the scNMSSM, under the constraints of 125 GeV Higgs data, B physics, searches for low and high mass resonances, searches for SUSY particles at the LHC, dark matter relic density by WMAP/Planck, and direct searches for dark matter by LUX, XENON1T, and PandaX-II. We find that under the above constraints, the scNMSSM can still (i) satisfy mu…
There exist well motivated models of particle dark matter which predominantly scatter inelastically off nuclei in direct detection experiments. This inelastic transition causes the DM to up-scatter in terrestrial experiments into an excited state up to 550 keV heavier than the DM itself. An inelastic transition of this size is highly suppressed by both kinematics and nuclear form factors. We extend previous studies of inelastic DM to determine the present bounds on the scattering cross section, and the prospects for improvements in sensitivity. Three scenarios provide illustrative examples: ne…
We explore the prospects for direct detection of dark energy by current and upcoming terrestrial dark matter direct detection experiments. If dark energy is driven by a new light degree of freedom coupled to matter and photons then dark energy quanta are predicted to be produced in the Sun. These quanta free-stream towards Earth where they can interact with Standard Model particles in the detection chambers of direct detection experiments, presenting the possibility that these experiments could be used to test dark energy. Screening mechanisms, which suppress fifth forces associated with new l…
Invisible decay of solar neutrinos at dark matter experiments
Gran Sasso Science Institute（格兰萨索科学研究所）；Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (INFN), Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso（意大利国家核物理研究所（INFN），格兰萨索国家实验室）；Instituto de Física Corpuscular (IFIC), CSIC‐Universitat de Valéncia（粒子物理研究所（IFIC），CSIC-巴伦西亚大学）；Institute of Experimental Physics, University of Hamburg（汉堡大学实验物理研究所）
The Fermi Collaboration has recently updated their analysis of gamma rays from the center of the Galaxy. They reconfirm the presence of an unexplained emission feature which is most prominent in the region of $1-10$ GeV, known as the Galactic Center GeV excess (GCE). Although the GCE is now firmly detected, an interpretation of this emission as a signal of self-annihilating dark matter (DM) particles is not unambiguously possible due to systematic effects in the gamma-ray modeling estimated in the Galactic Plane. In this paper we build a covariance matrix, collecting different systematic uncer…
Projected Sensitivity of Paleo-Detectors to Dark Matter Effective Interactions with Nuclei
The University of Texas at Austin（德克萨斯大学奥斯汀分校）；Stockholm University（斯德哥尔摩大学）；KTH Royal Institute of Technology（皇家理工学院）；University of North Florida（北佛罗里达大学）；Jožef Stefan Institute（约瑟夫·斯蒂芬研究所）
The observed Higgs mass indicates that the Standard Model can be valid up to near the Planck scale $M_\text{P}$. Within this framework, it is important to examine how little modification is necessary to fit the recent experimental results in particle physics and cosmology. As a minimal extension, we consider the possibility that the Higgs field plays the role of inflaton and that the dark matter is the Higgs-portal scalar field. We assume that the extended Standard Model is valid up to the string scale $10^{17}\,\text{GeV}$. (This translates to the assumption that all the non-minimal couplings…
