Three extra mirror or sequential families: case for a heavy Higgs boson and inert doublet

We study the possibility of the existence of extra fermion families and an extra Higgs doublet. We find that requiring the extra Higgs doublet to be inert leaves space for three extra families, allowing for mirror fermion families and a dark matter candidate at the same time. The emerging scenario is very predictive: It consists of a standard model Higgs boson, with a mass above 400 GeV, heavy new quarks between 340 and 500 GeV, light extra neutral leptons, and an inert scalar with a mass below M(Z).     

Electroweak symmetry breaking induced by dark matter

The mechanism behind electroweak symmetry breaking (EWSB) and the nature of dark matter (DM) are currently among the most important issues in high energy physics. Since a natural dark matter candidate is a weakly interacting massive particle or WIMP, with mass around the electroweak scale, it is clearly of interest to investigate the possibility that DM and EWSB are closely related. In the context of a very simple extension of the Standard Model, the inert doublet model, we show that dark matter could play a crucial role in the breaking of the electroweak symmetry. In this model, dark matter is the lightest component of an inert scalar doublet. The coupling of the latter with the Standard Model Higgs doublet breaks the electroweak symmetry at one-loop, à la Coleman–Weinberg. The abundance of dark matter, the breaking of the electroweak symmetry and the constraints from electroweak precision measurements can all be accommodated by imposing (an exact or approximate) custodial symmetry.     

Efficient coannihilation process through strong Higgs self-coupling in LKP dark matter annihilation

We point out that the lightest Kaluza–Klein particle (LKP) dark matter in universal extra dimension (UED) models efficiently annihilates through the coannihilation process including the first KK Higgs bosons when the Higgs mass is slightly heavy as 200–230 GeV, which gives the large Higgs self-coupling. The large self-coupling naturally leads the mass degeneracy between the LKP and the first KK Higgs bosons and large annihilation cross sections of the KK Higgs bosons. These are essential for the enhancement of the annihilation of the LKP dark matter, which allows large compactification scale ∼1 TeV to be consistent with cosmological observations for the relic abundance of dark matter. We found that the thermal relic abundance of the LKP dark matter could be reconciled with the stringent constraint of electroweak precision measurements in the minimal UED model.     

Status of the scalar singlet dark matter model

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 on invisible Higgs decays from the Large Hadron Collider, searches for high-energy neutrinos from dark matter annihilation in the Sun with IceCube, and searches for gamma rays from annihilation in dwarf galaxies with the Fermi-LAT. Viable solutions remain at couplings of order unity, for singlet masses between the Higgs mass and about 300 GeV, and at masses above \(\sim \)1 TeV. Only in the latter case can the scalar singlet constitute all of dark matter. Frequentist analysis shows that the low-mass resonance region, where the singlet is about half the mass of the Higgs, can also account for all of dark matter, and remains viable. However, Bayesian considerations show this region to be rather fine-tuned.     

Dark matter,neutrino mass,cutoff for cosmic-ray neutrino,and the Higgs boson invisible decay from a neutrino portal interaction

We study an effective theory beyond the standard model(SM) where either of the two additional gauge singlets, a Majorana fermion and a real scalar, constitutes all or some fraction of dark matter. In particular, we focus on the masses of the two singlets in the range of O(10) MeV-O(10) GeV with a neutrino portal interaction, which plays an important role not only in particle physics but also in cosmology and astronomy. We point out that the thermal dark matter abundance can be explained by(co-)annihilation, where the dark matter with a mass greater than 2 GeV can be tested in future lepton colliders, CEPC, ILC, FCC-ee and CLIC, in the light of the Higgs boson invisible decay. When the gauge singlets are lighter than O(100) MeV, the interaction can affect the neutrino propagation in the universe due to its annihilation with cosmic background neutrino into the gauge singlets. Although in this case it can not be the dominant dark matter, the singlets are produced by the invisible decay of the Higgs boson at such a rate which is fully within reach of future lepton colliders. In particular, a high energy cutoff of cosmic-ray neutrino,which may account for the non-detection of Greisen-Zatsepin-Kuzmin(GZK) neutrino or the non-observation of the Glashow resonance, can be set. Interestingly, given the cutoff and the mass(range) of WIMPs, a neutrino mass can be"measured" kinematically.     

Dark matter and Higgs boson collider implications of fermions in an Abelian-gauged hidden sector

We add fermions to an Abelian-gauged hidden sector. We show that the lightest can be the dark matter with the right thermal relic abundance, and discovery is within reach of upcoming dark matter detectors. We also show that these fermions change Higgs boson phenomenology at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), and in particular could induce a large invisible width to the lightest Higgs boson state. Such an invisibly decaying Higgs boson can be discovered with good significance in the vector boson fusion channel at the LHC.     

A Three Higgs Doublet Model for Fermion Masses

In this paper we propose a possible explanation to the Fermion mass hierarchy problem by fitting the type-II seesaw mechanism into the Higgs doublet sector, such that their vacuum expectation values are hierarchal. We extend the Standard Model with two extra Higgs doublets as well as a spontaneously broken U_X(1) gauge symmetry. All the fermion Yukawa couplings except that of the top quark are of O(10^-2) in our model. Constraints on the parameter space of the model from low energy processes are studied. Besides, the lightest one of the neutral fermion fields, which is introduced to cancel the anomalies of the U(1)_X gauge symmetry can be the cold dark matter candidate. We investigate its signature in the dark matter direct detection.     

Cosmic rays through the Higgs portal

We consider electroweak singlet dark matter with a mass comparable to the Higgs mass. The singlet is assumed to couple to standard matter through a perturbative coupling to the Higgs particle. The annihilation of a singlet in the mass range m_Sm_h is dominated by proximity to the W, Z and Higgs peaks in the annihilation cross section. We find that the continuous photon spectrum from annihilation of perturbatively coupled singlets in the galactic halo can reach a level of several per mil of the EGRET diffuse γ ray flux.     

Unifying darko-lepto-genesis with scalar triplet inflation

We present a scalar triplet extension of the standard model to unify the origin of inflation with neutrino mass, asymmetric dark matter and leptogenesis. In presence of non-minimal couplings to gravity the scalar triplet, mixed with the standard model Higgs, plays the role of inflaton in the early Universe, while its decay to SM Higgs, lepton and dark matter simultaneously generate an asymmetry in the visible and dark matter sectors. On the other hand, in the low energy effective theory the induced vacuum expectation value of the triplet gives sub-eV Majorana masses to active neutrinos. We investigate the model parameter space leading to successful inflation as well as the observed dark matter to baryon abundance. Assuming the standard model like Higgs mass to be at 125–126 GeV, we found that the mass scale of the scalar triplet to be ?O(10⁹) GeV$?O({10}^9)\text{GeV}$ and its trilinear coupling to doublet Higgs is ?0.09 so that it not only evades the possibility of having a metastable vacuum in the standard model, but also lead to a rich phenomenological consequences as stated above. Moreover, we found that the scalar triplet inflation strongly constrains the quartic couplings, while allowing for a wide range of Yukawa couplings which generate the CP asymmetries in the visible and dark matter sectors.     

Split-SUSY dark matter in light of direct detection limits

We examine the present and future XENON limits on the neutralino dark matter in split supersymmetry (split-SUSY). Through a scan over the parameter space under the current constraints from collider experiments and the WMAP measurement of the dark matter relic density, we find that in the allowed parameter space a large part has been excluded by the present XENON100 limits and a further largish part can be covered by the future exposure (6000 kg day). In case of unobservation of dark matter with such an exposure in the future, the lightest neutralino will remain bino-like and its annihilation is mainly through exchanging the SM-like Higgs boson in order to get the required relic density.     

Confronting cosmic ray electron and positron excesses with hybrid triplet Higgs portal dark matter

We perform a detailed study of scalar dark matter with triplet Higgs extensions of the Standard Model in order to explain the cosmic ray electron and positron excesses reported by AMS-02 and DAMPE. A detailed analysis of the AMS-02 positron excess reveals that for different orderings (normal, inverted, and quasi-degenerate) of neutrino mass, the hybrid triplet Higgs portal framework is more favored with respect to the single triplet Higgs portal for TeV scale dark matter. We also show that the resonant peak and continuous excess in DAMPE cosmic ray data can be well explained with the hybrid triplet Higgs portal dark matter when a dark matter sub-halo nearby is taken into account.     

Constraining Sommerfeld enhanced annihilation cross-sections of dark matter via direct searches

In a large class of models we show that the light scalar field responsible for the Sommerfeld enhancement in the annihilation of dark matter leads to observable direct detection rates, due to its mixing with the standard model Higgs. As a result the large annihilation cross-section of dark matter at present epoch, required to explain the observed cosmic ray anomalies, can be strongly constrained by direct searches. In particular Sommerfeld boost factors of order of a few hundred are already out of the CDMS-II upper bound at 90%$90\text{\%}$ confidence level for reasonable values of the model parameters.     

Nonminimal Higgs models,dark matter,and evolution of the universe

The set of sum rules for a wide class of nonminimal Higgs models has been obtained. Difficulties and ways for revealing the possibilities of studying extended Higgs models at colliders have been revealed with the use of these sum rules and recent LHC results. New methods of studying multidoublet Higgs models with various symmetry groups have been applied to solve problems of classification of these groups, breaking of symmetries in vacuum, etc. A method for the determination of masses and spins of dark-matter particles D and their partners via the energy spectrum of a lepton in the e ⁺ e ^? → DDW ⁺ W ^? process has been proposed. The possibility of the existence of strongly interacting dark matter has been revealed. Variants of the evolution of the phase states of the Universe have been analyzed within the inert doublet model.     

Restudy on Dark Matter Time-Evolution in the Littlest HiggsModel with T-Parity

Following previous study, in the littlest Higgs model (LHM), the heavy photon is supposed to be a possible dark matter candidate and its relic abundance of the heavy photon is estimated in terms of the Boltzman-Lee-Weinberg time-evolution equation. The effect of the T-parity violation is also considered. Our calculations show that when Higgs mass M_H taken to be 300 GeV and do not considering T-parity violation, only two narrow ranges 133<M_AH<135 GeV and 167<M_AH<169 GeV are tolerable with the current astrophysical observation and if 135<M_AH<167 GeV, there must at least exist another species of heavy particle contributing to the cold dark matter. As long as the T-parity can be violated, the heavy photon can decay into regular standard model particles and would affect the dark matter abundance in the universe, we discuss the constraint on the T-parity violation parameter based on the present data. Direct detection prospects are also discussed in some detail.     

Light dark matter in NMSSM and implication on Higgs phenomenology

For the experimental search of neutralino dark matter, it is important to know its allowed mass and scattering cross section with the nucleon. In order to figure out how light a neutralino dark matter can be predicted in low energy supersymmetry, we scan over the parameter space of the NMSSM (next-to-minimal supersymmetric model), assuming all the relevant soft mass parameters to be below TeV scale. We find that in the parameter space allowed by current experiments the neutralino dark matter can be as light as a few GeV and its scattering rate off the nucleon can reach the sensitivity of XENON100 and CoGeNT. As a result, a sizable parameter space is excluded by the current XENON100 and CoGeNT data (the plausible CoGeNT dark matter signal can also be explained). The future 6000 kg-days exposure of XENON100 will further explore (but cannot completely cover) the remained parameter space. Moreover, we find that in such a light dark matter scenario a light CP-even or CP-odd Higgs boson must be present to satisfy the measured dark matter relic density. Consequently, the SM-like Higgs boson hSM may decay predominantly into a pair of light Higgs bosons or a pair of neutralinos so that the conventional decays like hSM→γγ is much suppressed.     

Neutrino mass operators of dimension up to nine in two-Higgs-doublet model

We study higher-dimensional neutrino mass operators in a low energy theory that contains a second Higgs doublet, the two Higgs doublet model. The operators are relevant to underlying theories in which the lowest dimension-five mass operators would not be induced. We list the independent operators with dimension up to nine with the help of Young tableau. Also listed are the lowest dimension-seven operators that involve gauge bosons and violate the lepton number by two units. We briefly mention some of possible phenomenological implications.     

A minimal dark matter interpretation for the CRESST-II signal

We report on the possible interpretation of the two proposed dark matter mass values m _?? =11.6 GeV and m _?? =25.3 GeV from CRESST-II within the framework of the Higgs portal minimal dark matter model. We find that the higher mass value yields a suitable fit with a dark matter-Higgs coupling ??/2=0.157 and a recoil cross section which is compatible with contemporary estimates of the effective Higgs?Cnucleon coupling. On the other hand, the lower mass solution would require a large strangeness component in the nucleon to explain the corresponding nucleon recoil cross section reported by CRESST-II.     

Gamma ray line astronomy as a probe of cold dark matter

Some annihilation processes of cold dark matter particles in the galactic halo may result in monochromatic gamma rays with an astrophysically significant rate. This paper summarizes the calculation of these rates and discusses the expected gamma ray line flux in comparison with the diffuse cosmic background.     

Constraints on dark matter annihilation from M87

As the largest mass concentrations in the local Universe, nearby clusters of galaxies and their central galaxies are prime targets in searching for indirect signatures of dark matter annihilation (DMA). We seek to constrain the dark matter annihilation emission component from multi-frequency observations of the central galaxy of the Virgo cluster. The annihilation emission component is modeled by the prompt and inverse-Compton gamma rays from the hadronization of annihilation products from generic weakly interacting dark matter particles. This component is fitted to the excess of the observed data above the spectral energy distribution (SED) of the jet in M87, described with a best-fit synchrotron-self-Compton (SSC) spectrum. While this result is not sufficiently significant to claim a detection, we emphasize that a dark matter “double hump signature” can be used to unambiguously discriminate the dark matter emission component from the variable jet-related emission of M87 in future, more extended observation campaigns.