Abstract
The Higgs sector of the Standard Model offers a unique probe of the hidden sector. In this work, we explore the possibility of renormalizable Higgs couplings to the hidden sector vector fields which can constitute dark matter (DM). Abelian gauge sectors with minimal field content, necessary to render the gauge fields massive, have a natural Z2 parity. This symmetry ensures stability of the vector fields making them viable dark matter candidates, while evading the usual electroweak constraints. We illustrate this idea with the Stückelberg and Higgs mechanisms. Vector DM is consistent with the WMAP, XENON100, and LHC constraints, while it can affect significantly the invisible Higgs decay. Due to the enhanced branching ratio for the Higgs decay into the longitudinal components of the vector field, the vector Higgs portal provides an efficient way to hide the Higgs at the LHC. This could be the reason why the latest combined ATLAS/CMS data did not bring evidence for the existence of the Higgs boson.
Highlights
If the Higgs boson is the main communicator between the dark world and ours, Higgs hunting is intimately related to direct dark matter (DM) detection
To reconcile all the constraints is a non–trivial task [8]. Whereas this idea is normally considered in the context of scalar dark matter, in this work, we study the possibility of vectorial dark matter interacting with the visible sector through the Higgs portal
We show that this framework is well motivated theoretically and, while being consistent with the existing constraints, can affect significantly the ongoing Higgs search at the LHC
Summary
Two of the most important issues in particle physics phenomenology are the nature of dark matter and understanding electroweak symmetry breaking. To reconcile all the constraints is a non–trivial task [8] (see [9] for more general scenarios) Whereas this idea is normally considered in the context of scalar (or fermion) dark matter, in this work, we study the possibility of vectorial dark matter interacting with the visible sector through the Higgs portal. We show that this framework is well motivated theoretically and, while being consistent with the existing constraints, can affect significantly the ongoing Higgs search at the LHC. Let us consider examples, starting with the less common Stuckelberg dark matter
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