From Extended Theories of Gravity to Dark Matter

Abstract

In this work, we propose different models of extended theories of gravity, which are minimally coupled to the SM fields, to explain the possibility of a dark matter (DM) candidate, without ad-hoc additions to the Standard Model (SM). We modify the gravity sector by allowing quantum corrections motivated from local $f(R)$ gravity, and non-minimally coupled gravity with SM sector and dilaton field. Using an effective field theory (EFT) framework, we constrain the scale of the EFT and DM mass. We consider two cases-Light DM (LDM) and Heavy DM (HDM), and deduce upper bounds on the DM annihilation cross section to SM particles.