Dark matter in the scotogenic model with spontaneous lepton number violation

Abstract

Scotogenic models constitute an appealing solution to the generation of neutrino masses and to the dark matter mystery. In this work we consider a version of the Scotogenic model that breaks lepton number spontaneously. At this scope, we extend the particle content of the Scotogenic model with an additional singlet scalar which acquires a non-zero vacuum expectation value and breaks a global lepton number symmetry. As a consequence, a massless Goldstone boson, the majoron, appears in the particle spectrum. We discuss how the presence of the majoron modifies the phenomenology, both in flavor and dark matter observables. We focus on the fermionic dark matter candidate and analyze its relic abundance and prospects for both direct and indirect detection.