On the Possible Links Between Electroweak Symmetry Breaking and Dark Matter

Abstract

The mechanism behind electroweak symmetry breaking (EWSB) and the nature of dark matter (DM) are currently very important issues in particle physics. Usually, in most models, these two issues are not or poorly connected. However, 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 which can induce dynamically electroweak symmetry breaking at one loop level. Moreover, in a large fraction of the parameter space of this model, the mass of the dark matter particle is essentially determined by the electroweak scale, so that the fact that the WIMP DM mass is around the electroweak scale is not a coincidence.