Dark Gauge Boson Research Articles

Higgs model coupled to dark photons

A dark sector containing a Higgs field and a dark photon coupled to visible photons via a small kinetic mixing is considered. The mass of the dark gauge boson becomes rescaled by the parameter involved in the kinetic mixing. We also calculate the total annihilation cross-section for scalar Higgs interacting with an external field and show that exhibits Sommerfeld enhancement. The model can be extended to a SU(3) × SU(2) × U(1) dark sector. The mass of the dark Z boson increases due to the kinetic mixing.

Majorana dark matter in a classically scale invariant model

We analyze a classically scale invariant extension of the Standard Model with a dark gauge U(1) X broken by a doubly charge scalar Φ leaving a remnant Z 2 symmetry. Dark fermions are introduced as dark matter candidates and for anomaly reasons we introduce two chiral fermions. Due to classical scale invariance, bare mass term that would mix these two states is absent and they end up as stable Majorana fermions N 1 and N 2. We calculate cross sections for N a N a → ϕϕ, N a N a → X μ ϕ and N 2 N 2 → N 1 N 1 annihilation channels. We put constraints to the model from the Higgs searches at the LHC, dark matter relic abundance and dark matter direct detection limits by LUX. The dark gauge boson plays a crucial role in the Coleman-Weinberg mechanism and has to be heavier than 680 GeV. The viable mass region for dark matter is from 470 GeV up to a few TeV. In the case when the two Majorana fermions have different masses, two dark matter signals at direct detection experiments could provide a distinctive signature of this model.

Muong−2anomaly and dark leptonic gauge boson

One of the major motivations to search for a dark gauge boson of MeV-GeV scale is the long-standing muon g-2 anomaly. Because of active searches such as fixed target experiments and rare meson decays, the muon g-2 favored parameter region has been rapidly reduced. With the most recent data, it is practically excluded now in the popular dark photon model. We overview the issue and investigate a potentially alternative model based on the gauged lepton number or U(1)_L. The muon g-2 favored parameter region of the U(1)_L survives all the constraints that were critical in the dark photon case, yet it is disfavored by the new constraints from the large flux neutrino experiments.

Higgs vacuum stability from the dark matter portal

We consider classically scale-invariant extensions of the Standard Model (CSI ESM) which stabilise the Higgs potential and have good dark matter candidates. In this framework all mass scales, including electroweak and dark matter masses, are generated dynamically and have a common origin. We consider Abelian and non-Abelian hidden sectors portally coupled to the SM with and without a real singlet scalar. We perform a careful analysis of RG running to determine regions in the parameter space where the SM Higgs vacuum is stabilised. After combining this with the LHC Higgs constraints, in models without a singlet, none of the regained parameter space in Abelian ESMs, and only a small section in the non-Abelian ESM survives. However, in all singlet-extended models we find that the Higgs vacuum can be stabilised in all of the parameter space consistent with the LHC constraints. These models naturally contain two dark matter candidates: the real singlet and the dark gauge boson in non-Abelian models. We determine the viable range of parameters in the CSI ESM framework by computing the relic abundance, imposing direct detection constraints and combining with the LHC Higgs constraints. In addition to being instrumental in Higgs stabilisation, we find that the singlet component is required to explain the observed dark matter density.

Dark decay of the top quark

We suggest top quark decays as a venue to search for light dark force carriers. The top quark is the heaviest particle in the standard model whose decays are relatively poorly measured, allowing sufficient room for exotic decay modes from new physics. A very light (GeV scale) dark gauge boson (Z') is a recently highlighted hypothetical particle that can address some astrophysical anomalies as well as the 3.6 sigma deviation in the muon g-2 measurement. We present and study a possible scenario that top quark decays as t -> b W + Z's. This is the same as the dominant top quark decay (t -> b W) accompanied by one or multiple dark force carriers. The Z' can be easily boosted, and it can decay into highly collimated leptons (lepton-jet) with large branching ratio. We discuss the implications for the Large Hadron Collider experiments including the analysis based on the lepton-jets.

New exclusion limits on dark gauge forces from proton Bremsstrahlung in beam-dump data

We re-analyze published proton beam dump data taken at the U70 accelerator at IHEP Serpukhov with the ν-calorimeter I experiment in 1989 to set mass-coupling limits for dark gauge forces. The corresponding data have been used for axion and light Higgs particle searches in Refs. [1,2] before. More recently, limits on dark gauge forces have been derived from this data set, considering a dark photon production from π0-decay [3]. Here we determine extended mass and coupling exclusion bounds for dark gauge bosons ranging to masses mγ′ of 624 MeV at admixture parameters ε≃10−6 considering high-energy Bremsstrahlung of the γ′-boson off the initial proton beam and different detection mechanisms.

Search for low mass dark gauge bosons at KLOE

The existence of a light dark force mediator has been tested with the KLOE detector at DAΦNE. This particle, the so called dark photon U, has been searched for in three different processes and four different final states: a) Φ → ηU, with U → e+e−, η → π+π−π0 and η → π0π0π0; b) e+e− → Uγ with U → μ+μ−; c) e+e− → Uh' (dark Higgsstrahlung), U → μ+μ−, where h' is a Higgs-like particle responsible for the breaking of the hidden symmetry.We did not find any evidence of the processes above and set upper limits on the parameters of the model, for different MU (and Mh') mass ranges, depending on the considered final state.

Probing interactions within the dark matter sector via extra radiation contributions

The nature of dark matter is one of the most thrilling riddles for both cosmology and particle physics nowadays. While in the typical models the dark sector is composed only by weakly interacting massive particles, an arguably more natural scenario would include a whole set of gauge interactions which are invisible for the standard model but that are in contact with the dark matter. We present a method to constrain the number of massless gauge bosons and other relativistic particles that might be present in the dark sector using current and future cosmic microwave background data, and provide upper bounds on the size of the dark sector. We use the fact that the dark matter abundance depends on the strength of the interactions with both sectors, which allows one to relate the freeze-out temperature of the dark matter with the temperature of {this cosmic background of dark gauge bosons}. This relation can then be used to calculate how sizable is the impact of the relativistic dark sector in the number of degrees of freedom of the early Universe, providing an interesting and testable connection between cosmological data and direct/indirect detection experiments. The recent Planck data, in combination with other cosmic microwave background experiments and baryonic acoustic oscillations data, constrains the number of relativistic dark gauge bosons, when the freeze-out temperature of the dark matter is larger than the top mass, to be N \lesssim 14 for the simplest scenarios, while those limits are slightly relaxed for the combination with the Hubble constant measurements to N \lesssim 20. Future releases of Planck data are expected to reduce the uncertainty by approximately a factor 3, what will reduce significantly the parameter space of allowed models.

Abelian dark matter models for 511 keV γ rays and direct detection

AbstractThe authors construct a simple U(1) hidden sector model of metastable dark matter that could explain excess 511 keV gamma rays from the galactic center as observed by INTEGRAL, through inelastic scattering of dark matter followed by its decay. Although the model is highly constrained, it naturally accommodates dark matter with mass and cross section in the range suggested by the CoGeNT and CRESST experiments. The dark gauge boson that mediates the interactions with standard model matter has a mass of several hundred MeV, and might be discovered by heavy photon detection experiments, including APEX, MAMI and HPS.

V-PARTICLE AGAIN?

This talk is mainly based on our previous work.1 We will investigate the possibility of detecting light long-lived particle (LLP) produced by high energy cosmic ray colliding with atmosphere. The LLP may penetrate the atmosphere and decay into a pair of muons near/in the neutrino telescope. Such muons can be treated as the detectable signal for neutrino telescope. The particle with such behavior is very similar with that of the first observed strange particle in cosmic ray events, which was coined historically as "V-particle" in some literature. This study is motivated by recent cosmic electron/positron observations which suggest the existence of O(TeV) dark matter and new light O(GeV) particle. It indicates that dark sector may be complicated, and there may exist more than one light particle, for example the dark gauge boson A′ and associated dark Higgs boson h′. In this work, we discuss the scenario with A′ heavier than h′ and h′ is treated as LLP. Based on our numerical estimation, we find that the large volume neutrino telescope IceCube has the capacity to observe several tens of di-muon events per year for favorable parameters if the decay length of LLP can be comparable with the depth of atmosphere. The challenge here is how to suppress the muon background induced by cosmic rays and atmospheric neutrinos.

New exclusion limits for dark gauge forces from beam-dump data

We re-analyze published proton beam dump data taken at the U70 accelerator at IHEP Serpukhov with the ν-calorimeter I experiment in 1989 to set mass-coupling limits for dark gauge forces. The corresponding data have been used for axion and light Higgs particle searches in Blümlein et al. (1991, 1992) [1,2] before. We determine new mass and coupling exclusion bounds for dark gauge bosons.

Metastable dark matter mechanisms for INTEGRAL 511 keVγrays and DAMA/CoGeNT events

We explore dark matter mechanisms that can simultaneously explain the galactic 511 keV gamma rays observed by INTEGRAL/SPI, the DAMA/LIBRA annual modulation, and the excess of low-recoil dark matter candidates observed by CoGeNT. It requires three nearly degenerate states of dark matter in the 4-7 GeV mass range, with splittings respectively of order an MeV and a few keV. The top two states have the small mass gap and transitions between them, either exothermic or endothermic, can account for direct detections. Decays from one of the top states to the ground state produce low-energy positrons in the galaxy whose associated 511 keV gamma rays are seen by INTEGRAL. This decay can happen spontaneously, if the excited state is metastable (longer-lived than the age of the universe), or it can be triggered by inelastic scattering of the metastable states into the shorter-lived ones. We focus on a simple model where the DM is a triplet of an SU(2) hidden sector gauge symmetry, broken at the scale of a few GeV, giving masses of order \lsim 1 GeV to the dark gauge bosons, which mix kinetically with the standard model hypercharge. The purely decaying scenario can give the observed angular dependence of the 511 keV signal with no positron diffusion, while the inelastic scattering mechanism requires transport of the positrons over distances \sim 1 kpc before annihilating. We note that an x-ray line of several keV in energy, due to single-photon decays involving the top DM states, could provide an additional component to the diffuse x-ray background. The model is testable by proposed low-energy fixed target experiments.

The search for dark matter gauge bosons with the Mainz Microtron

A pilot experiment in the search for light gauge bosons at the spectrometer setup of the A1 collaboration at MAMI is presented. Light gauge bosons arise naturally in a wide range of theoretical approaches beyond the standard model and are in accordance with several pieces of experimental evidence not yet understood in the standard model. A first test measurement at MAMI showed that existing limits on the coupling of such a light gauge boson can be improved by nearly an order of magnitude by fixed target experiments at existing electron accelerators.

Detecting light long-lived particle produced by cosmic ray

We investigate the possibility of detecting light long-lived particle (LLP) produced by high energy cosmic ray colliding with atmosphere. The LLP may penetrate the atmosphere and decay into a pair of muons near/in the neutrino telescope. Such muons can be treated as the detectable signal for neutrino telescope. This study is motivated by recent cosmic electron/positron observations which suggest the existence of O(TeV) dark matter and new light O(GeV) particle. It indicates that dark sector may be complicated, and there may exist more than one light particles, for example, the dark gauge boson A′ and associated dark Higgs boson h′. In this work, we discuss the scenario with A′ heavier than h′ and h′ is treated as LLP. Based on our numerical estimation, we find that the large volume neutrino telescope IceCube has the capacity to observe several tens of di-muon events per year for favorable parameters if the decay length of LLP can be comparable with the depth of atmosphere. The challenge here is how to suppress the muon backgrounds induced by cosmic rays and atmospheric neutrinos.

Breaking the dark force

Recently Arkani-Hamed, Finkbeiner, Slatyer and Weiner proposed a unified explanation to the set of experimental and observational anomalies with possible connections to Dark Matter (DM). A central role is played by GeV scale ``dark" gauge bosons exchanged by the weak scale DM. Motivated by this proposal, we build an explicit model of DM in the context of Weak Scale Supersymmetry (SUSY). We employ high-scale SUSY-breaking and invoke the Giudice-Masiero mechanism to generate the weak scale DM masses. By sequestering the dark sector from the SUSY-breaking ``hidden" sector, it naturally acquires GeV scale soft masses that help generate the dark gauge boson mass. The visible MSSM sector is not fully sequestered and acquires gaugino-mediated soft terms at the weak scale. This hierarchy of scales naturally leads to the Sommerfeld enhancement of DM annihilations needed to account for the e+e− excesses in the PAMELA and ATIC experiments. The possibility of co-existing species of DM is used to show how the INTEGRAL and DAMA anomalies can both be explained. We study the cosmological constraints on the new stable or long-lived light particles that appear in our models. We discuss the lepton-jet collider signals suggested by Arkani-Hamed and Weiner, and find that they are not guaranteed in our construction.

Non-abelian dark sectors and their collider signatures

Motivated by the recent proliferation of observed astrophysical anomalies, Arkani-Hamed et al. have proposed a model in which dark matter is charged under a non-abelian ``dark'' gauge symmetry that is broken at ~1 GeV. In this paper, we present a survey of concrete models realizing such a scenario, followed by a largely model-independent study of collider phenomenology relevant to the Tevatron and the LHC. We address some model building issues that are easily surmounted to accommodate the astrophysics. While SUSY is not necessary, we argue that it is theoretically well-motivated because the GeV scale is automatically generated. Specifically, we propose a novel mechanism by which mixed D-terms in the dark sector induce either SUSY breaking or a super-Higgs mechanism precisely at a GeV. Furthermore, we elaborate on the original proposal of Arkani-Hamed et al. in which the dark matter acts as a messenger of gauge mediation to the dark sector. In our collider analysis we present cross-sections for dominant production channels and lifetime estimates for primary decay modes. We find that dark gauge bosons can be produced at the Tevatron and the LHC, either through a process analogous to prompt photon production or through a rare Z decay channel. Dark gauge bosons will decay back to the SM via ``lepton jets'' which typically contain >2 and as many as 8 leptons, significantly improving their discovery potential. Since SUSY decays from the MSSM will eventually cascade down to these lepton jets, the discovery potential for direct electroweak-ino production may also be improved. Exploiting the unique kinematics, we find that it is possible to reconstruct the mass of the MSSM LSP. We also present several non-SUSY and SUSY decay channels that have displaced vertices and lead to multiple leptons with partially correlated impact parameters.

LHC signals for a SuperUnified theory of Dark Matter

A new theory of WIMP Dark Matter has been proposed, motivated directly by striking Data from the PAMELA and ATIC collaborations. The WIMP is taken to be charged under a hidden gauge symmetry G_Dark, broken near the GeV scale; this also provides the necessary ingredients for the "exciting" and "inelastic" Dark Matter interpretations of the INTEGRAL and DAMA signals. In this short note we point out the consequences of the most straightforward embedding of this simple picture within low-energy SUSY, in which G_Dark breaking at the GeV scale arises naturally through radiative corrections, or Planck-suppressed operators. The theory predicts major additions to SUSY signals at the LHC. A completely generic prediction is that G_Dark particles can be produced in cascade decays of MSSM superpartners, since these end with pairs of MSSM LSP's that in turn decay into the true LSP and other particles in the dark sector. In turn, the lightest GeV-scale dark Higgses and gauge bosons eventually decay back into light SM states, and dominantly into leptons. Therefore, a large fraction of all SUSY events will contain at least two ``lepton jets'': collections of n>= 2 leptons, with small angular separations and GeV scale invariant masses. Furthermore, if the Dark Matter sector is directly charged under the Standard Model, the success of gauge coupling unification implies the presence of new long-lived colored particles that can be copiously produced at the LHC.