Dark Sector Cosmologies: Evolution and Constraints

For more than 20 years, the Compton telescope had provided the best measurements of the Galactic diffuse MeV spectrum. Recently, our analysis of 16 years of data from the SPectrometer on INTEGRAL (SPI) measured this emission with a higher signal-to-noise ratio. At MeV energies, the dominant contribution to the diffuse emission comes from inverse Compton scattering. Nonetheless, sub-dominant emission from Primordial Black Hole (PBH) Dark Matter (DM) can be searched for in these data. Hypothetically formed from the collapse of over-densities before Big Bang nucleosynthesis, PBHs are interesting candidates for DM in the ΛCDM model of cosmology. PBHs of masses between 1016 and 1018 g, in the so-called asteroid mass range, are currently unconstrained and can saturate the DM cosmological abundance. MeV emission from PBH in this mass range is expected to come from PBH evaporation. We searched for the PBH signal with 16 years of SPI data, and demonstrated that PBHs cannot account for all the DM if their mass is smaller than 4 × 1017 g.

We explore the possibility of explaining the observed dark matter (DM) relic abundance, along with matter-antimatter asymmetry, entirely from the evaporation of primordial black holes (PBH) beyond the semi-classical approximation. We find that, depending on the timing of modification to the semi-classical approximation and the efficiency of the backreaction, it is possible to produce the correct DM abundance for PBHs with masses ≳ 𝒪 (103) g, whereas producing the right amount of baryon asymmetry requires light PBHs with masses ≲ 𝒪 (103) g, satisfying bounds on the PBH mass from the Cosmic Microwave Background and Big Bang Nucleosynthesis. However, in a simplistic scenario, achieving both simultaneously is not feasible, typically because of the stringent Lyman-α constraint on warm dark matter mass. In addition to DM and baryon asymmetry, we also investigate the impact of memory burden on dark radiation, evaporated from PBH, constrained by the effective number of relativistic degrees of freedom Δ N eff. Furthermore, we demonstrate how induced gravitational waves from PBH density fluctuations can provide a window to test the memory-burden effects, thereby placing constraints on either the DM mass scale or the scale of leptogenesis.

We propose a framework to address the observed baryon asymmetry considering neutrinos as Dirac particles and dark matter to be self-interacting. The Standard Model is extended by U(1)B−L × U(1)D symmetry. In addition to the three right-handed neutrinos, the Standard Model particle content is extended by two more fermion fields; one of them is a S U(2) singlet and the other one is S U(2) doublet, both charged under the extended symmetry. A Z2 symmetry is imposed under which the doublet is positive while the singlet is negative. The singlet, being the lightest dark sector particle, acts as the dark matter. The U(1)D symmetry of the dark sector is spontaneously broken and the corresponding gauge boson Z′ not only mediates the self-interaction among dark matter particles, but also facilitates the annihilation of the symmetric component of dark matter. CP-violating out of equilibrium decay of another heavy Z2 odd S U(2) scalar doublet N into leptonic and dark sectors produce the observed baryon asymmetry and dark matter density. Moreover, Z′ also mixes with the standard model Z-boson opening up a portal for the direct detection of dark matter.

In this work, we investigate the spectra of gravitational waves produced by chiral symmetry breaking in dark quantum chromodynamics (dQCD) sector. The dark pion (π) can be a dark matter candidate as weakly interacting massive particle (WIMP) or strongly interacting massive particle (SIMP). For a WIMP scenario, we introduce the dQCD sector coupled to the standard model (SM) sector with classical scale invariance and investigate the annihilation process of the dark pion via the 2π → 2 SM process. For a SIMP scenario, we investigate the 3π → 2π annihilation process of the dark pion as a SIMP using chiral perturbation theory. We find that in the WIMP scenario the gravitational wave background spectra can be observed by future space gravitational wave antennas. On the other hand, when the dark pion is the SIMP dark matter with the constraints for the chiral perturbative limit and pion-pion scattering cross section, the chiral phase transition becomes crossover and then the gravitational waves are not produced.

We propose a novel cogenesis of baryon and dark matter (DM) in the Universe by utilising a first-order phase transition (FOPT) in the dark sector containing an asymmetric Dirac fermion χ. Due to the mass difference of χ across the bubble walls, it is energetically favourable for χ to get trapped in the false vacuum leading to the formation of Fermi-ball, which can self-collapse to form primordial black hole (PBH) if χ has a sufficiently large Yukawa interaction. While such PBH formed out of false vacuum collapse can give rise to the DM in the Universe, a tiny amount of asymmetric χ leaking into the true vacuum through the bubble walls can transfer the dark asymmetry into the visible sector via decay. The same mass difference of χ across the two minima which decides the amount of trapping or filtering of χ, also allows χ decay into visible sector in the true minima while keeping it stable in the false vacuum. Our filtered cogenesis scenario can be probed via FOPT generated stochastic gravitational waves (GW) at near future detectors in addition to the well-known detection aspects of asteroid mass PBH constituting DM in the Universe.

We consider dark matter physics in a model for the dark sector with extra dark U(1)$_X$ gauge symmetry. The dark sector is composed of exotic fermions that are charged under both dark U(1)$_X$ and the standard model SU(3)$_C \times$U(1)$_Y$ gauge groups, as well as standard model singlet complex scalars $\Phi$ and $X$ with nonzero U(1)$_X$ charge. In this model, there are two dark matter candidates$-$a scalar and a fermion$-$both of which are stabilized by accidental $Z_2$ symmetry. Their thermal relic density, and direct and indirect detection constraints are discussed in detail and we search for the parameter space of the model accommodating dark matter observations. We also discuss constraints from diphoton resonance searches associated with the scalar field which breaks the dark U(1)$_X$, in a way consistent with dark matter physics. In addition, implications for collider physics are discussed, focusing on the production cross section of the scalar boson.

All of the significant evidence for dark matter observed thus far has been through its gravitational interactions. After 40 years of direct detection experiments, the parameter space for weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs) as dark matter candidates is rapidly approaching the neutrino floor. Moreover, there have been no signs of WIMPs in any particle production experiments so far. In this light, we consider a dark sector that is strongly decoupled from the visible sector, interacting exclusively through gravity. In this model, proposed by Freese and Winkler [Dark matter and gravitational waves from a dark big bang, ], dark matter can be produced through a first-order phase transition in the dark sector dubbed “the dark big bang.” We fully determine the allowed region of parameter space for the tunneling potential that leads to the realization of a dark big bang and is consistent with all experimental bounds available. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

We study the prospect of heavy singlet neutrinos as a dark matter (DM) candidate within a neutrinophilic U(1) model, where the Standard Model (SM) is extended with a U(1) gauge symmetry, and neutrino mass and oscillation parameters are explained through an inverse see-saw mechanism. The lightest of the heavy neutrinos plays the role of the DM, while the newly introduced scalars and the extra gauge boson Z′ act as mediators between the dark sector and the SM sector. We show the range of model parameters where this DM candidate can be accommodated in the Weakly Interacting Massive Particle (WIMP) or Feebly Interacting Massive Particle (FIMP) scenario. The observed DM relic density (DMRD) is achieved via the new gauge boson and singlet scalar portals in the WIMP scenario, whereas within the FIMP scenario, these two particles assume a distinct yet pivotal role in generating the observed DMRD.

micrOMEGAs5.0 : Freeze-in

The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) has confirmed the Higgs mechanism to generate mass in the Standard Model (SM), making it attractive also to consider spontaneous symmetry breaking as the origin of mass for new particles in a dark sector extension of the SM. Such a dark Higgs mechanism may in particular give mass to a dark matter candidate and to the gauge boson mediating its interactions (called dark photon). In this review, we summarize the phenomenology of the resulting dark Higgs boson and discuss the corresponding search strategies with a focus on collider experiments. We consider both the case that the dark Higgs boson is heavier than the SM Higgs boson, in which case leading constraints come from direct searches for new Higgs bosons as well missing-energy searches at the LHC, and the case that the dark Higgs boson is (potentially much) lighter than the SM Higgs boson, such that the maximum sensitivity comes from electron–positron colliders and fixed-target experiments. Of particular experimental interest for both cases is the associated production of a dark Higgs boson with a dark photon, which subsequently decays into SM fermions, dark matter particles or long-lived dark sector states. We also discuss the important role of exotic decays of the SM-like Higgs boson and complementary constraints arising from early-universe cosmology, astrophysics, and direct searches for dark matter in laboratory experiments.

The major aims of this project are to (i) to systematically explore the cosmological history of dark matter born out of a larger dark sector and to establish new discovery opportunities for dark matter in both astrophysical and terrestrial experiments, and (ii) to develop new techniques to discover very weakly coupled new physics at colliders, especially particles produced in exotic decays of the Higgs boson and/or with a macroscopic proper lifetime. This report summarizes how the research carried out in this project addresses these goals. Selected highlights from the final year of the project include (i) establishing new probes of dark sectors in the early universe through visible footprints in cosmic microwave background, big bang nucleosynthesis, and gravitational wave observables; (ii) developing new links between self-interacting dark sectors and dark matter microstructure; (iii) surveying progress in the search for exotic decays of the Higgs and discussing the resulting consequences for models of nature.

Supersymmetric dark matter sectors

We consider the possibility that the massive graviton is a viable candidate\nof dark matter in the context of bimetric gravity. We first derive the\nenergy-momentum tensor of the massive graviton and show that it indeed behaves\nas that of dark matter fluid. We then discuss a production mechanism and the\npresent abundance of massive gravitons as dark matter. Since the metric to\nwhich ordinary matter fields couple is a linear combination of the two mass\neigenstates of bigravity, production of massive gravitons, i.e. the dark matter\nparticles, is inevitably accompanied by generation of massless gravitons, i.e.\nthe gravitational waves. Therefore, in this scenario some information about\ndark matter in our universe is encoded in gravitational waves. For instance, if\nLIGO detects gravitational waves generated by the preheating after inflation\nthen the massive graviton with the mass of $\\sim 0.01$ GeV is a candidate of\nthe dark matter.\n

We study the well-motivated mixed dark matter (DM) scenario composed of a dominant thermal WIMP, highlighting the case of $SU(2{)}_{L}$ triplet fermion ``winos,'' with a small fraction of primordial black holes (PBHs). After the wino kinetic decoupling, the DM particles are captured by PBHs leading to the presence of PBHs with dark minihalos in the Milky Way today. The strongest constraints for the wino DM come from the production of narrow line gamma rays from wino annihilation in the Galactic Center. We analyse in detail the viability of the mixed wino DM scenario, and determine the constraints on the fraction of DM in PBHs assuming a cored halo profile in the Milky Way. We show that already with the sensitivity of current indirect searches, there is a significant probability for detecting a gamma ray signal characteristic for the wino annihilation in a single nearby dressed PBH when ${M}_{\mathrm{PBH}}\ensuremath{\sim}{M}_{\ensuremath{\bigodot}}$, which we refer to as a ``shining black hole.'' Similar results should apply also in more general setups with ultracompact minihalos or other DM models, since the accretion of DM around large overdensities and DM annihilation are both quite generic processes.

The initial density of dark matter (DM) particles, otherwise secluded from the standard model (SM), may be generated at reheating, with an initial temperature ratio for internal thermalizations, ξi=TDM,i/TSM,i. This scenario necessarily implies inflaton-mediated scatterings between DM and SM after reheating, with a rate fixed by the relic abundance of DM and the reheat temperature. These scatterings can be important for an inflaton mass and reheat temperature as high as O(107 GeV) and O(109 GeV), respectively, since the thermally averaged collision terms become approximately independent of the inflaton mass when the bath temperature is larger than the mass. The impact of these scatterings on DM cosmology is studied modeling the perturbative reheating physics by a gauge-invariant set of inflaton interactions up to dimension 5 with the SM gauge bosons, fermions, and the Higgs fields. It is observed that an initially lower (higher) DM temperature will rapidly increase (decrease), even with very small couplings to the inflaton. There is a sharp lower bound on the DM mass below which the relic abundance cannot be satisfied due to faster backscatterings depleting DM quanta to SM particles. For low DM masses, the cosmic microwave background constraints become stronger due to the collisions for ξi<1, probing values as small as O(10−4), and weaker for ξi>1. The big-bang nucleosynthesis constraints become stronger due to the collisions for lower DM masses, probing ξi as small as O(0.1), and weaker for higher DM mass. Thus inflaton-mediated collisions with predictable rates, relevant even for high-scale inflation models, can significantly impact the cosmology of light DM. Published by the American Physical Society 2024