Twin Higgs WIMP dark matter

Abstract

Dark matter (DM) without a matter asymmetry is studied in the context of twin Higgs (TH) theories in which the LHC naturalness problem is addressed. These possess a twin sector related to the Standard Model (SM) by a (broken) ${\mathbb{Z}}_{2}$ symmetry, and interacting with the SM via a specific Higgs portal. We focus on the minimal realization of the TH mechanism, the fraternal twin Higgs, with only a single generation of twin quarks and leptons, and the $SU(3{)}^{\ensuremath{'}}\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}SU(2{)}^{\ensuremath{'}}$ gauge group. We show that a variety of natural twin-WIMP DM candidates are present (directly linked to the weak scale by naturalness), the simplest and most attractive being the ${\ensuremath{\tau}}^{\ensuremath{'}}$ lepton with a mass ${m}_{{\ensuremath{\tau}}^{\ensuremath{'}}}>{m}_{\text{Higgs}}/2$, although spin-1 ${W}^{\ensuremath{'}\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}}$ DM and multicomponent DM are also possible (twin baryons are strongly disfavored by tuning). We consider in detail the dynamics of the possibly (meta)stable glueballs in the twin sector, the nature of the twin QCD phase transition, and possible new contributions to the number of relativistic degrees of freedom, $\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Delta}}{N}_{\mathrm{eff}}$. Direct detection signals are below current bounds but accessible in near-future experiments. Indirect detection phenomenology is rich and requires detailed studies of twin hadronization and fragmentation to twin glueballs and quarkonia and their subsequent decay to SM, and possible light twin sector states.