We study well-motivated dark matter candidates arising from weakly-coupled hidden sectors in compactified string/$M$-theory. Imposing generic top-down constraints greatly restricts allowed candidates. By considering the possible mechanisms for achieving the correct dark matter relic density, we compile categories of viable dark matter candidates and annihilation mediators. We consider the case where supersymmetry breaking occurs via moduli stabilisation and is gravitationally mediated to the visible and other hidden sectors, without assuming sequestering of the sector in which supersymmetry is broken. We find that in this case, weakly-coupled hidden sectors only allow for fermionic dark matter. Additionally, most of the mechanisms for obtaining the full relic density only allow for a gauge boson mediator, such as a dark $Z'$. Given these considerations, we study the potential for discovering or constraining the allowed parameter space given current and future direct detection experiments, and direct production at the LHC. We also present a model of a hidden sector which would contain a satisfactory dark matter candidate.
Ultraviolet physics typically induces a kinetic mixing between gauge singlets which is marginal and hence non-decoupling in the infrared. In singlet extensions of the minimal supersymmetric standard model, e.g. the next-to-minimal supersymmetric standard model, this furnishes a well motivated and distinctive portal connecting the visible sector to any hidden sector which contains a singlet chiral superfield. In the presence of singlet kinetic mixing, the hidden sector automatically acquires a light mass scale in the range 0.1 - 100 GeV induced by electroweak symmetry breaking. In theories with…
We investigate possible renormalization effects on the low-energy mass spectrum of the minimal supersymmetric standard model (MSSM), using a calculable model of strongly coupled hidden sector. We model the hidden sector by N=2 supersymmetric quantum chromodynamics with gauge group SU(2) x U(1) and N_f=2 matter hypermultiplets, perturbed by a Fayet-Iliopoulos term which breaks the supersymmetry down to N=0 on a metastable vacuum. In the hidden sector the Kahler potential is renormalized. Upon identifying a hidden sector modulus with the renormalization scale, and extrapolating to the strongly c…
We study vortex solutions in a theory with dynamics governed by two weakly coupled Abelian Higgs models, describing a hidden sector and a visible sector. We analyze the radial dependence of the axially symmetric solutions constructed numerically and discuss the stability of vortex configurations for different values of the model parameters, studying in detail vortex decay into lower energy configurations. We find that even in a weak coupling regime vortex solutions strongly depend on the parameters of both the visible and hidden sectors. We also discuss on qualitative grounds possible implicat…
We investigate the presence of vortices in generalized Maxwell-Higgs models with a hidden sector. The model engenders $U(1)\times U(1)$ symmetry, in a manner that the sectors are coupled via the visible magnetic permeability depending only on the hidden scalar field. We develop a first order framework in which the hidden sector decouples from the visible one. We illustrate the results with two specific examples, that give rise to the presence of vortices with internal structure.
We investigate the detailed phenomenology of a light Abelian hidden sector in the Randall-Sundrum framework. Relative to other works with light hidden sectors, the main new feature is a tower of hidden Kaluza-Klein vectors that kinetically mix with the Standard Model photon and Z. We investigate the decay properties of the hidden sector fields in some detail, and develop an approach for calculating processes initiated on the ultraviolet brane of a warped space with large injection momentum relative to the infrared scale. Using these results, we determine the detailed bounds on the light warped…
We study the hidden sector effects to the mass renormalization of a simplest gauge-mediated supersymmetry breaking scenario. We point out that possible hidden sector contributions render the soft scalar masses smaller, resulting in drastically different sparticle mass spectrum at low energy. In particular, in the ${\bf 5}+\bar{\bf 5}$ minimal gauge mediated supersymmetry breaking with high messenger scale (that is favored by the gravitino cold dark matter scenario), we show that stau can be the next lightest superparticle for moderate values of hidden sector self coupling. This provides a very…
In models of supersymmetry (SUSY) breaking and mediation, strongly coupled SUSY-breaking sectors can play a significant role in determining the low-energy spectrum of the model. For example, strong dynamics may provide a natural solution to both the SUSY flavor problem and the mu / B mu problem. Recently, it has been suggested that a large class of these models lead to identical boundary conditions at the SUSY breaking scale. These boundary conditions would severely constrain the models' viability. We demonstrate that the boundary conditions are instead sensitive to the details of the hidden s…
Models of secluded dark matter offer a variant on the standard WIMP picture and can modify our expectations for hidden sector phenomenology and detection. In this work we extend a minimal model of secluded dark matter, comprised of a U(1)'-charged dark matter candidate, to include a confining hidden-sector CFT. This provides a technically natural explanation for the hierarchically small mediator-scale, with hidden-sector confinement generating m_{gamma'}>0. Furthermore, the thermal history of the universe can differ markedly from the WIMP picture due to (i) new annihilation channels, (ii) a (p…
We give a formalism for constructing hidden sector bundles as extensions of sums of line bundles in heterotic $M$-theory. Although this construction is generic, we present it within the context of the specific Schoen threefold that leads to the physically realistic $B-L$ MSSM model. We discuss the embedding of the line bundles, the existence of the extension bundle, and a number of necessary conditions for the resulting bundle to be slope-stable and thus $N=1$ supersymmetric. An explicit example is presented, where two line bundles are embedded into the $SU(3)$ factor of the $E_{6} \times SU(3…
In supersymmetric extensions of the Standard Model, superpartner masses consistent with collider bounds typically introduce significant tuning of the electroweak scale. We show that hidden sector renormalisation can greatly reduce such a tuning if the supersymmetry breaking, or mediating, sector runs through a region of strong coupling not far from the weak scale. In the simplest models, only the tuning due to the gaugino masses is improved, and a weak scale gluino mass in the region of 5 TeV may be obtained with an associated tuning of only one part in ten. In models with more complex couplin…
We study vortex solutions in Abelian Chern-Simons-Higgs theories with visible and hidden sectors. We first consider the case in which the two sectors are connected through a BF-like gauge mixing term with no explicit interaction between the the two scalars. Since first order Bogomolny equations do not exist in this case, we derive the second order field equations. We then proceed to an ${\cal N}=2$ supersymmetric extension including a Higgs portal mixing among the visible and hidden charged scalars. As expected, Bogomolnyi equations do exist in this case and we study their string-like solution…
We consider the production of asymmetric dark matter during hidden sector baryogenesis. We consider a particular supersymmetric model where the dark matter candidate has a number density approximately equal to the baryon number density, with a mass of the same scale as the $b$, $c$ and $τ$. Both baryon asymmetry and dark matter are created at the same time in this model. We describe collider and direct detection signatures of this model.
Hidden theories coupled to the SM may provide emergent (dark) vectors, that are composites/bound-states of the hidden fields. This is motivated by paradigms emerging from the AdS/CFT correspondence but it is a more general phenomenon. We explore the general setup and find that UV interactions among currents or charged fields give rise to emergent vectors in the IR. We study the general properties of such vectors and argue that they can be generically different from fundamental dark photons that have been studied so far.
We apply the Festina Lente (FL) bound on a hidden sector with $U(1)$ gauge symmetries. Since the FL bound puts a lower bound on masses of particles charged under the $U(1)$ gauge symmetries, it is possible to constrain the hidden sector even with a tiny coupling to the Standard Model. In particular, we focus on the phenomenological implications of the FL bound on milli-charged particles, which naturally arise when kinetic mixing between the photon and the hidden photon is allowed. It turns out that the milli-charged particle with the mass $M\lesssim 5$ meV is prohibited by the FL bound in the …
The LHC and other experiments show so far no sign of new physics and long-held beliefs about naturalness should be critically reexamined. We discuss therefore in this paper a model with a combined breaking of conformal and electroweak symmetry by a strongly coupled hidden sector. Even though the conformal symmetry is anomalous, this may still provide an explanation of the smallness of electroweak scale compared to the Planck scale. Specifically we start from a classically conformal model, in which a strongly coupled hidden sector undergoes spontaneous chiral symmetry breaking. A coupling via a…
In this paper, we consider a generic hidden sector which interacts only gravitationally with Standard Model particles. We show that quantum gravity leads to operators which can be probed with fifth force type experiments. The Eöt-Wash torsion pendulum experiment implies that the masses of any scalar field or any massive spin-2 field that couples with the usual gravitational strength to the energy-momentum tensor of the Standard Model must be larger than $10^{-3}$eV. This has interesting consequences for models of dark matter which posit very light scalar fields. Dark matter must be heavier tha…
A method is proposed to streamline the computation of hidden particle production rates by factorizing them into i) a model-independent SM contribution, and ii) a observable-independent hidden sector contribution. The Standard Model (SM) contribution can be computed once for each observable and re-used for a wide array of hidden sector models, while the hidden sector contribution can be computed once for each model, and re-used for a wide array of observables. The SM contribution also facilitates extracting model independent constraints on hidden particle production. The method is compatible wi…
We discuss gauge mediation in the case where the hidden sector is strongly coupled but, via the gauge-gravity correspondence, admits a weakly-coupled description in terms of a warped higher-dimensional spacetime. In this framework, known as holographic gauge mediation, the visible-sector gauge group is realized in the gravitational description by probe D-branes and the non-supersymmetric state by normalizable perturbations to the geometry. Using the formalism of general gauge mediation, supersymmetry-breaking soft terms in the visible sector can be related to the two-point functions of the hid…
We consider a hidden sector with new vectorlike confining gauge theories like QCD. Then a scale $Λ_H$ would be generated in the hidden sector by dimensional transmutation, and chiral symmetry breaking occurs in the hidden sector. Then this scale $Λ_H$ can play a role of the SM Higgs mass parameter, triggering electroweak symmetry breaking (EWSB). Thus all the mass scales of the SM sector can arise from the hidden sector. Furthermore the lightest hadrons in the hidden sector is stable by the flavor conservation of the hidden sector strong interaction, and could be the cold dark matter (CDM). We…
In this paper, we revisit a scale-invariant extension of the standard model (SM) with a strongly interacting hidden sector within AdS/QCD approach. Using the AdS/QCD, we reduce the number of input parameters to three, {\it i.e.} hidden pion decay constant, hidden pion mass and $\tanβ$ that is defined as the ratio of the vacuum expectation values (VEV) of the singlet scalar field and the SM Higgs boson. As a result, our model has sharp predictability. We perform the phenomenological analysis of the hidden pions which is one of the dark matter (DM) candidates in this model. With various theoreti…
SOFTSUSY is a software designed to solve the RG equations of the MSSM and compute its low energy spectrum. HidSecSOFTSUSY is an extension of the SOFTSUSY package which modifies the beta functions to include contributions from light dynamic fields in the hidden sector.
We show that in the model of hidden sector of the Universe, interacting with the Standard-Model sector through the photonic portal, the Standard-Model Coulomb potential gets a tiny hidden-sector additive correction that might turn out to be either exciting or fatal for the verification of this model.
Light moduli fields in string compactifications can have interesting implications for particle physics and cosmology. Fifth force bounds impose stringent constraints on the interactions of such moduli with the visible sector. To be consistent with the bounds, they need to be part of hidden sectors which interact with the Standard Model with weaker-than-Planck suppressed interactions. We consider scenarios in which the visible sector degrees of freedom are localised in the compactification and light moduli arise as closed string degrees of freedom associated with hidden sectors which are geomet…
We argue that the eta-problem in supergravity inflation cannot be solved without knowledge of the ground state of hidden sectors that are gravitationally coupled to the inflaton. If the hidden sector breaks supersymmetry independently, its fields cannot be stabilized during cosmological evolution of the inflaton. We show that both the subsequent dynamical mixing between sectors as well as the lightest mass of the hidden sector are set by the scale of supersymmetry breaking in the hidden sector. The true cosmological eta-parameter arises from a linear combination of the lightest mode of the hid…
We discuss mechanisms for naturally generating GeV-scale hidden sectors in the context of weak-scale supersymmetry. Such low mass scales can arise when hidden sectors are more weakly coupled to supersymmetry breaking than the visible sector, as happens when supersymmetry breaking is communicated to the visible sector by gauge interactions under which the hidden sector is uncharged, or if the hidden sector is sequestered from gravity-mediated supersymmetry breaking. We study these mechanisms in detail in the context of gauge and gaugino mediation, and present specific models of Abelian GeV-scal…
We show that neutron star binaries can be ideal laboratories to probe hidden sectors with a long range force. In particular, it is possible for gravitational wave detectors such as LIGO and Virgo to resolve the correction of waveforms from ultralight dark gauge bosons coupled to neutron stars. We observe that the interaction of the hidden sector affects both the gravitational wave frequency and amplitude in a way that cannot be fitted by pure gravity.
We study the impact of a hidden sector beyond the Standard Model, e.g. a Hidden Valley model, on factorial moments and cumulants of multiplicity distributions in multiparticle production with a special emphasis on the prospects for LHC results.
An analysis of a tower of hidden sectors coupled to each other, with one of these hidden sectors coupled to the visible sector, is given and the implications of such couplings on physics in the visible sector are investigated. Thus the analysis considers $n$ number of hidden sectors where the visible sector couples only to hidden sector 1, while the latter couples also to hidden sector 2, and the hidden sector 2 couples to hidden sector 3 and so on. A set of successively feeble couplings of the hidden sectors to the visible sector are generated in such a set up. In general each of these sector…
We consider a hidden sector with a vectorlike confining gauge theory like QCD with $N_{h,c}$ colors and $N_{h,f}$ light quarks ${\cal Q}_h$ in the hidden sector. Then a scale $Λ_H$ would be generated by dimensional transmutation, and chiral symmetry breaking occurs in the hidden sector. This scale $Λ_H$ can play a role of the SM Higgs mass parameter, triggering electroweak symmetry breaking (EWSB). Furthermore the lightest mesons in the hidden sector is stable by flavor conservation of the hidden sector strong interaction, and could be a good cold dark matter (CDM). We study collider phenomeno…
Introducing a vacuum angle $θ_h$ in a strongly interacting hidden sector like QCD, we study how $θ_h$ affects physical quantities in a scale invariant extension of the standard model with that hidden sector. In this model the dynamical chiral symmetry breaking occurs in the hidden sector and generates a scale $ \vert \langle {\bar q} q \rangle \vert $ which triggers electroweak symmetry breaking. We find that the expression for a vacuum expectation value of the Higgs field depends on $θ_h$, while the condition which determines the Higgs particle mass does not. This model contains the hidden-se…
We discuss the implications of a gauged Abelian hidden-sector communicating with the Standard Model (SM) fields via kinetic mixing with the SM hypercharge gauge field, or via the Higgs quartic interaction. We discuss signatures of the hidden-sector gauge boson at the LHC in the four-lepton channel. We show that a hidden-sector fermion can be a natural dark-matter candidate with the correct relic-density, discuss direct-detection prospects, and show how Higgs signatures may be altered at the LHC.
A weak photon interaction with the hidden sector of the Universe, introduced recently to realize a "photonic portal", (to such a hypothetic sector responsible for cold dark matter), is conjectured to be embedded in a more extended weak interaction displaying electroweak symmetry spontaneously broken by the Standard-Model Higgs mechanism. This is a hypothetic new weak interaction between hidden and Standard-Model sectors of the Universe, appearing in our model in addition to the conventional electroweak interaction acting in the Standard-Model sector.
We propose a framework in which visible matter interacts with matter from a hidden sector through mass mixings of Stückelberg U(1) gauge fields. In contrast to other Z' mediation scenarios, our setup has the added appealing features that (i) the choice of Z's can be significantly broadened without necessarily introducing unwanted exotic matter and (ii) there can be sizable tree-level interactions between the visible and hidden sectors. String theory embeddings of this scenario and their phenomenological features are briefly discussed.
A hypothetic Hidden Sector of the Universe, consisting of sterile fermions ("sterinos") and sterile mediating bosons ("sterons") of mass dimension 1 (not 2!) - the last described by an antisymmetric tensor field - requires to exist also a scalar isovector and scalar isoscalar in order to be able to construct electroweak invariant coupling (before spontaneously breaking its symmetry).
A new weak-isospin triplet of scalar bosons is introduced to the Standard Model in order to ensure the electroweak symmetry for a conjectured new weak coupling between a hidden sector of the Universe, responsible for cold dark matter, and the Standard-Model sector (involving now the new triplet). The considered coupling may be called "electroweak portal" to the structure of hidden sector. After spontaneously breaking the electroweak symmetry by the Standard-Model Higgs mechanism, it includes the so called "photonic portal" introduced by us previously.
