Abstract
We present a class of models in which dark matter (DM) is a fermionic singlet under the Standard Model (SM) gauge group but is charged under a symmetry of flavour that acts as well on the SM fermions. Interactions between DM and SM particles are mediated by the scalar fields that spontaneously break the flavour symmetry, the so-called flavons. In the case of gauged flavour symmetries, the interactions are also mediated by the flavour gauge bosons. We first discuss the construction and the generic features of this class of models. Then a concrete example with an abelian flavour symmetry is considered. We compute the complementary constraints from the relic abundance, direct detection experiments and flavour observables, showing that wide portions of the parameter space are still viable. Other possibilities like non-abelian flavour symmetries can be analysed within the same framework.
Highlights
Establishing the nature of dark matter (DM) is one of the fundamental open problems in particle physics and cosmology
We present a class of models in which dark matter (DM) is a fermionic singlet under the Standard Model (SM) gauge group but is charged under a symmetry of flavor that acts as well on the SM fermions
In this article we propose a new mechanism generating the interactions of DM with the visible sector: DM and the SM particles are charged under a flavor symmetry and interact with each other only via flavor interactions
Summary
Establishing the nature of dark matter (DM) is one of the fundamental open problems in particle physics and cosmology. Since WIMPs must be weakly interacting, a likely possibility is that DM is a singlet under the Standard Model (SM) gauge group In this case the interactions with the SM particles are transmitted by mediators, i.e. by the “dark sector.”. In this article we propose a new mechanism generating the interactions of DM with the visible sector: DM and the SM particles are charged under a flavor symmetry and interact with each other only via flavor interactions.1 This is an appealing possibility since it is minimal in the sense that no ad hoc quantum numbers must be introduced and DM interactions are described by the same dynamics generating fermion masses in the SM. Relating Dark Matter and flavor models provides a handle on the otherwise unspecified flavorbreaking scale, motivating the possibility of low-energy realizations with interesting phenomenology that would allow insights into the flavor sector [34]
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