Abstract
In this paper, we present a model which attempts to unify a new dark sector force with a local $SU(3)$ flavor symmetry. Dark matter (DM) and its potential interactions with the Standard Model (SM) continue to present a rich framework for model building. In the case of thermal DM of a mass between a few MeV and a few GeV, a compelling and much-explored framework is that of a dark photon/vector portal, which posits a new $U(1)$ ``dark photon'' which only couples to the SM via small kinetic mixing (KM) with the SM hypercharge. This mixing can be mediated at the one-loop level by portal matter (PM) fields which are charged under both the dark $U(1)$ and the SM gauge group. In earlier work, one of the authors has noted that models with appropriate portal matter content to produce finite and calculable kinetic mixing can arise from nonminimal dark sectors, in which the dark $U(1)$ is a subgroup of a larger gauge symmetry under which SM particles might have nontrivial representations. We expand on this idea here by constructing a model in which in which the dark $U(1)$ is unified with another popular extension to the SM gauge group, a local $SU(3)$ flavor symmetry. The full dark/flavor symmetry group is $SU(4{)}_{F}\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}U(1{)}_{F}$, incorporating the local $SU(3)$ flavor symmetry with PM appearing as a vectorlike ``fourth generation'' to supplement the three generations of the SM. To ensure finite contributions to KM, the SM gauge group is arranged into Pati-Salam multiplets. The new extended dark gauge group presents a variety of interesting experimental signatures, including nontrivial consequences of the flavor symmetry being unified with the dark sector.
Highlights
In spite of composing roughly 80% of the matter in the universe, the precise identity of dark matter (DM) remains undetermined
Models to produce the appropriate abundance of DM, strongly suggest that it is subject to interactions other than gravity, and null results in searches for historically favored DM candidates such as axions [1,2] and WIMPs [3] have led to a proliferation of new ideas on the identity, production mechanisms, and experimental signatures of DM [4,5]
Interaction between the Standard Model (SM) fields and the DM is mediated by a massive vector dark photon AD, associated with a broken dark gauge group Uð1ÞD
Summary
In spite of composing roughly 80% of the matter in the universe, the precise identity of dark matter (DM) remains undetermined. The discussion in I limited itself to the simplest possible constructions, in which a pair of such vectorlike fermions, with opposite dark charges, generate finite KM through a small mass splitting between them This setup provided for interesting phenomenology, the inPclusion of portal matter fields which satisfied the condition i QDiQYi 1⁄4 0 was ad hoc: In spite of the critical importance that this cancellation had to the model, it did not happen “naturally.” the Uð1ÞD itself was still minimal—the potentially new effects arising from a nonminimal set of dark gauge symmetries in which Uð1ÞD could be embedded, such as the possibility that the SM fields were nontrivially charged under some part of the extended gauge group orthogonal to Uð1ÞD, were not explored. VI summarizes our results and discusses possible avenues with which this work might be expounded upon
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