Dark Matter Scenario Research Articles

Navarro-Frenk-White dark matter profile and the dark halos around disk systems

Context. The Λ cold dark matter (ΛCDM) scenario is able to describe the Universe at large scales, but clearly shows some serious difficulties at small scales. The core-cusp question is one of these difficulties: the inner dark matter (DM) density profiles of spiral galaxies generally appear to be cored, without the r−1 profile that is predicted by N-body simulations in the above scenario. Aims. It is well known that in a more physical context, the baryons in the galaxy might backreact and erase the original cusp through supernova explosions. Before the efficiency and the presence of this effect is investigated, it is important to determine how wide and frequent the discrepancy between observed and N-body-predicted profiles is and what its features are. Methods. We used more than 3200 quite extended rotation curves (RCs) of good quality and high resolution of disk systems that included normal and dwarf spirals as well as low surface brightness galaxies. The curves cover all magnitude ranges. All these RCs were condensed into 26 coadded RCs, each of them built with individual RCs of galaxies of similar luminosity and morphology. We performed mass models of these 26 RCs using the Navarro-Frenk-White (NFW) profile for the contribution of the DM halo to the circular velocity and the exponential Freeman disk for the contribution of the stellar disk. Results. The fits are generally poor in all the 26 cases: in several cases, we find χred2 > 2. Moreover, the best-fitting values of three parameters of the model (c, MD, and Mvir) combined with those of their 1σ uncertainty clearly contradict well-known expectations of the ΛCDM scenario. We also tested the scaling relations that exist in spirals with the outcome of the current mass modeling: the modeling does not account for these scaling relations. Conclusions. The results of testing the NFW profile in disk systems indicate that this DM halo density law cannot account for the kinematics of the whole family of disk galaxies. It is therefore mandatory for the success of the ΛCDM scenario in any disk galaxy of any luminosity or maximum rotational velocity to transform initial cusps into the observed cores.

Hidden sector monopole dark matter with matter domination

The thermal freeze-out mechanism for relic dark matter heavier than O(10 − 100 TeV) requires cross-sections that violate perturbative unitarity. Yet the existence of dark matter heavier than these scales is certainly plausible from a particle physics perspective, pointing to the need for a non-thermal cosmological history for such theories. Topological dark matter is a well-motivated scenario of this kind. Here the hidden-sector dark matter can be produced in abundance through the Kibble-Zurek mechanism describing the non-equilibrium dynamics of defects produced in a second order phase transition. We revisit the original topological dark matter scenario, focusing on hidden-sector magnetic monopoles, and consider more general cosmological histories. We find that a monopole mass of order (1–105) PeV is generic for the thermal histories considered here, if monopoles are to entirely reproduce the current abundance of dark matter. In particular, in a scenario involving an early era of matter domination, the monopole number density is always less than or equal to that in a pure radiation dominated equivalent provided a certain condition on critical exponents is satisfied. This results in a larger monopole mass needed to account for a fixed relic abundance in such cosmologies.

Fermi-ball dark matter from a first-order phase transition

We propose a novel dark matter (DM) scenario based on a first-order phase transition in the early universe. If dark fermions acquire a huge mass gap between true and false vacua, they can barely penetrate into the new phase. Instead, they get trapped in the old phase and accumulate to form macroscopic objects, dubbed Fermi-balls. We show that Fermi-balls can explain the DM abundance in a wide range of models and parameter space, depending most crucially on the dark-fermion asymmetry and the phase transition energy scale (possible up to the Planck scale). They are stable by the balance between fermion's quantum pressure against free energy release, hence turn out to be macroscopic in mass and size. However, this scenario generally produces no detectable signals (which may explain the null results of DM searches), except for detectable gravitational waves (GWs) for electroweak scale phase transitions; although the detection of such stochastic GWs does not necessarily imply a Fermi-ball DM scenario.

New production channels for light dark matter in hadronic showers

Hadronic showers transfer a relevant amount of their energy to electromagnetic subshowers. We show that the generation of "secondary" dark photons in these sub-showers is significant and typically dominates the production at low dark photon masses. The resulting dark photons are however substantially less energetic than the ones originating from mesons decay. We illustrate this point both semi-analytically and through Monte Carlo simulations. Existing limits on vector-mediator scenarios for light dark matter are updated with the inclusion of the new production processes.

Primordial Black Holes as Dark Matter: Recent Developments

Although the dark matter is usually assumed to be made up of some form of elementary particle, primordial black holes (PBHs) could also provide some of it. However, various constraints restrict the possible mass windows to 1016–1017 g, 1020–1024 g, and 10–103 M⊙. The last possibility is contentious but of special interest in view of the recent detection of black hole mergers by LIGO/Virgo. PBHs might have important consequences and resolve various cosmological conundra even if they account for only a small fraction of the dark matter density. In particular, those larger than 103 M⊙ could generate cosmological structures through the seed or Poisson effect, thereby alleviating some problems associated with the standard cold dark matter scenario, and sufficiently large PBHs might provide seeds for the supermassive black holes in galactic nuclei. More exotically, the Planck-mass relics of PBH evaporations or stupendously large black holes bigger than 1012 M⊙ could provide an interesting dark component.

Deep＋ wide lensing surveys can measure the dark matter halos of dwarf galaxies

The advent of new deep+wide photometric lensing surveys will open up the possibility of direct measurements of the dark matter halos of dwarf galaxies. The HSC wide survey will be the first with the statistical capability of measuring the lensing signal with high signal-to-noise at log(M*)=8. At this same mass scale, LSST will have the most overall constraining power with a predicted signal-to-noise for the galaxy-galaxy lensing signal around dwarfs of SN=200. WFIRST and LSST will have the greatest potential to push below the log(M*) = 7 mass scale thanks to the depth of their imaging data. Studies of the dark matter halos of dwarf galaxies at z=0.1 with gravitational lensing are soon within reach. However, further work will be required to develop optimized strategies for extracting dwarfs samples from these surveys, determining redshifts, and accurately measuring lensing on small radial scales. Dwarf lensing will be a new and powerful tool to constrain the halo masses and inner density slopes of dwarf galaxies and to distinguish between baryonic feedback and modified dark matter scenarios.

Ejection of supermassive black holes and implications for merger rates in fuzzy dark matter haloes

ABSTRACT Fuzzy dark matter (FDM) consisting of ultralight axions has been invoked to alleviate galactic-scale problems in the cold dark matter scenario. FDM fluctuations, created via the superposition of waves, can impact the motion of a central supermassive black hole (SMBH) immersed in an FDM halo. The SMBH will undergo a random walk, induced by FDM fluctuations, that can result in its ejection from the central region. This effect is strongest in dwarf galaxies, accounting for wandering SMBHs and the low detection rate of active galactic nuclei in dwarf spheroidal galaxies. In addition, a lower bound on the allowed axion masses is inferred both for Sagitarius A* and heavier SMBH; to avoid ejection from the galactic centres, axion masses of the order of 10−22 eV or lighter are excluded. Stronger limits are inferred for merging galaxies. We find that the event rate of SMBH mergers in FDM haloes and the associated SMBH growth rates can be reduced by at least an order of magnitude.

Dark matter Z′ and XENON1T excess from U(1)X extended standard model

A gauged U(1)X symmetry appended to the Standard Model (SM) is particularly well motivated since it can account for the light neutrino masses by the seesaw mechanism, explain the origin of baryon asymmetry of the universe via leptogenesis, and help implement successful cosmological inflation with the U(1)X breaking Higgs field as the inflaton. In this framework, we propose a light dark matter (DM) scenario in which the U(1)X gauge boson Z′ behaves as a DM particle in the universe. We discuss how this scenario with Z′ mass of a few keV and a U(1)X gauge coupling gX≃10−16 can nicely fit the excess in the electronic recoil energy spectrum recently reported by the XENON1T collaboration. In order to reproduce the observed DM relic density in the presence of such a tiny gauge coupling, we propose an extension of the model to a two-component DM scenario. The Z′ DM density can be comparable to the observed DM density by the freeze-in mechanism through the coupling of Z′ boson to a partner Higgs-portal scalar DM with a large U(1)X charge.

Self-Interacting Dark Matter and the Origin of Ultradiffuse Galaxies NGC1052-DF2 and -DF4.

Observations of ultradiffuse galaxies NGC 1052-DF2 and -DF4 show they may contain little dark matter, challenging our understanding of galaxy formation. Using controlled N-body simulations, we explore the possibility that their properties can be reproduced through tidal stripping from the elliptical galaxy NGC 1052, in both cold dark matter (CDM) and self-interacting dark matter (SIDM) scenarios. To explain the dark matter deficiency, we find that a CDM halo must have a very low concentration so that it can lose sufficient inner mass in the tidal field. In contrast, SIDM favors a higher and more reasonable concentration as core formation enhances tidal mass loss. Final stellar distributions in our SIDM benchmarks are more diffuse than the CDM one, and hence the former are in better agreement with the data. We further show that a cored CDM halo model modified by strong baryonic feedback is unlikely to reproduce the observations. Our results indicate that SIDM is more favorable for the formation of dark-matter-deficient galaxies.

The Z5 model of two-component dark matter

Scenarios for multi-component scalar dark matter based on a single ZN (N ≥ 4) symmetry are simple and well-motivated. In this paper we investigate, for the first time, the phenomenology of the Z5 model for two-component dark matter. This model, which can be seen as an extension of the well-known singlet scalar model, features two complex scalar fields — the dark matter particles — that are Standard Model singlets but have different charges under a Z5 symmetry. The interactions allowed by the Z5 give rise to novel processes between the dark matter particles that affect their relic densities and their detection prospects, which we study in detail. The key parameters of the model are identified and its viable regions are characterized by means of random scans. We show that, unlike the singlet scalar model, dark matter masses below the TeV are still compatible with present data. Even though the dark matter density turns out to be dominated by the lighter component, we find that current and future direct detection experiments may be sensitive to signals from both dark matter particles.

Shining light on the scotogenic model: interplay of colliders and cosmology

In the framework of the scotogenic model, which features radiative generation of neutrino masses, we explore light dark matter scenario. Throughout the paper we chiefly focus on keV-scale dark matter which can be produced either via freeze-in through the decays of the new scalars, or from the decays of next-to-lightest fermionic particle in the spectrum, which is produced through freeze-out. The latter mechanism is required to be suppressed as it typically produces a hot dark matter component. Constraints from BBN are also considered and in combination with the former production mechanism they impose the dark matter to be light. For this scenario we consider signatures at High Luminosity LHC and proposed future hadron and lepton colliders, namely FCC-hh and CLIC, focusing on searches with two leptons and missing energy as a final state. While a potential discovery at High Luminosity LHC is in tension with limits from cosmology, the situation greatly improves for future colliders.

UV completion of an axial, leptophobic, Z′

The Z′-portal is one of most popular and well-explored scenarios of dark matter (DM). To avoid the strong constraints coming from dilepton resonance searches at the LHC and direct detection of DM, it is usually required that in addition to being leptophobic, the Z′ is axially coupled to either the (fermionic) DM or the standard model (SM) quarks. The first possibility has been extensively studied both in the context of simplified model and ultraviolet (UV) complete scenarios. However, the studies on the second possibility are largely confined to simplified models only. Here, we construct the minimal UV completion of these models satisfying both the criteria of leptophobia and purely axial Z′-quark coupling. The anomaly cancellation conditions demand highly non-trivial structures, not only in the dark sector, but also in the Higgs sector. We also discuss the main phenomenological implications of the UV completion, in particular the existence of novel constraints associated to the Z−Z′ mixing, and examine the thermal DM production.

Observable gravitational waves in minimal scotogenic model

We scrutinise the widely studied minimal scotogenic model of dark matter (DM) and radiative neutrino mass from the requirement of a strong first order electroweak phase transition (EWPT) and observable gravitational waves at future planned space based experiments. The scalar DM scenario is similar to inert scalar doublet extension of standard model where a strong first order EWPT favours a portion of the low mass regime of DM which is disfavoured by the latest direct detection bounds. In the fermion DM scenario, we get newer region of parameter space which favours strong first order EWPT as the restriction on mass ordering within inert scalar doublet gets relaxed. While such leptophilic fermion DM remains safe from stringent direct detection bounds, newly allowed low mass regime of charged scalar can leave tantalising signatures at colliders and can also induce charged lepton flavour violation within reach of future experiments. While we get such new region of parameter space satisfying DM relic, strong first order EWPT with detectable gravitational waves, light neutrino mass and other relevant constraints, we also improve upon previous analysis in similar model by incorporating appropriate resummation effects in effective finite temperature potential.

Hunting for scalar lepton partners at future electron colliders

New physics close to the electroweak scale is well motivated by a number of theoretical arguments. However, colliders, most notably the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), have failed to deliver evidence for physics beyond the Standard Model. One possibility for how new electroweak-scale particles could have evaded detection so far is if they carry only electroweak charge, i.e. are color neutral. Future $e^+e^-$ colliders are prime tools to study such new physics. Here, we investigate the sensitivity of $e^+e^-$ colliders to scalar partners of the charged leptons, known as sleptons in supersymmetric extensions of the Standard Model. In order to allow such scalar lepton partners to decay, we consider models with an additional neutral fermion, which in supersymmetric models corresponds to a neutralino. We demonstrate that future $e^+e^-$ colliders would be able to probe most of the kinematically accessible parameter space, i.e. where the mass of the scalar lepton partner is less than half of the collider's center-of-mass energy, with only a few days of data. Besides constraining more general models, this would allow to probe some well motivated dark matter scenarios in the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model, in particular the incredible bulk and stau co-annihilation scenarios.

Dark matter interpretation of excesses in multiple direct detection experiments

We present a novel unifying interpretation of excess event rates observed in several dark matter direct-detection experiments that utilize single-electron threshold semiconductor detectors. Despite their different locations, exposures, readout techniques, detector composition, and operating depths, these experiments all observe statistically significant excess event rates of $\sim$ 10 Hz/kg. However, none of these persistent excesses has yet been reported as a dark matter signal because individually, each can be attributed to different well-motivated but unmodeled backgrounds, and taken together, they cannot be explained by dark matter particles scattering elastically off detector nuclei or electrons. We show that these results can be reconciled if the semiconductor detectors are seeing a collective inelastic process, consistent with exciting a plasmon. We further show that plasmon excitation could arise in two compelling dark matter scenarios, both of which can explain rates of existing signal excesses in germanium and, at least at the order of magnitude level, across several single-electron threshold detectors. At least one of these scenarios also yields the correct relic density from thermal freeze-out. Both dark matter scenarios motivate a radical rethinking of the standard interpretations of dark matter-electron scattering from recent experiments.

Cosmological signatures of superheavy dark matter

We discuss two possible scenarios, namely the curvaton mechanism and the dark matter density modulation, where non-Gaussianity signals of superheavy dark matter produced by gravity can be enhanced and observed. In both scenarios, superheavy dark matter couples to an additional light field as a mediator. In the case of derivative coupling, the resulting non-Gaussianities induced by the light field can be large, which can provide inflationary evidences for these superheavy dark matter scenarios.

Sterile neutrino dark matter: impact of active-neutrino opacities

The resonant production of keV sterile-neutrino dark matter mainly takes place during the QCD epoch of the early universe. It has been argued that it could be strongly affected by the opacities (or damping rates) of active neutrinos, which receive non-perturbative QCD-contributions. We find that for lepton asymmetries {n}_{L_{alpha }}/s below 10−6 the opacities significantly affect the sterile-neutrino yield, but that for larger asymmetries, which are necessary for producing a significant fraction of the dark matter, the yield is insensitive to changes of the opacities. Thus non-perturbative QCD contributions to the opacities at temperatures around 160 MeV will not affect this dark matter scenario. We obtain larger sterile-neutrino yields than previous studies, and thus weaker lower limits on the active-sterile mixing angle from Big Bang Nucleosynthesis.

Multilepton signatures for scalar dark matter searches in coannihilation scenario

We revisit the scalar singlet dark matter (DM) scenario with a pair of dark lepton partners which form a vectorlike Dirac fermionic doublet. The extra doublet couples with the Standard Model (SM) leptonic doublet and the scalar singlet via a non-SM-like Yukawa structure. As a result, (i) since the extra fermionic states interact with other dark sector particles as well as the SM via gauge and Yukawa interactions, it gives rise to new DM annihilation processes including pair annihilation as well as coannihilation channels, and (ii) such a Yukawa structure opens up new production channels for leptonic final states giving much enhancement in cross sections to search for dark matter in the LHC. Using suitable kinematic observables, we train a {\em boosted decision tree} (BDT) classifier to separate enhanced but still feeble light leptonic signals from the background in an effective manner. On the other hand, the same technique is applied to study $\tau$-tagged jets in the search for DM signals.

Nonperturbative enhancement of heavy quark-antiquark pair annihilation in the quark-gluon plasma

The annihilation of heavy particles close to thermal equilibrium, which plays a prominent role in the chemical equilibration of heavy quarks in the Quark-Gluon Plasma (QGP) as well as in many classic dark matter scenarios, is reexamined. We derive a scattering amplitude that resums near-threshold attractive interaction of the annihilating particles in terms of the non-relativistic scattering $T$-matrix and Green's function, thereby capturing the pertinent Sommerfeld enhancement from both nonperturbative scattering state and bound state solutions. The derived formula is of such generality that it applies to arbitrary partial wave processes of two-particle annihilation, and enables to incorporate finite widths of the annihilating particles. In a screened potential model, the non-perturbative scattering amplitude is computed and the Sommerfeld enhancement is identified for heavy quark-antiquark annihilation in the QGP.

Interpreting cosmological tensions from the effective field theory of torsional gravity

Cosmological tensions can arise within the Lamda cold dark matter scenario amongst different observational windows, which may indicate new physics beyond the standard paradigm if confirmed by measurements. In this article, we report how to alleviate both the ${H}_{0}$ and ${\ensuremath{\sigma}}_{8}$ tensions simultaneously within torsional gravity from the perspective of effective field theory. Following these observations, we construct concrete models of Lagrangians of torsional gravity. Specifically, we consider the parametrization $f(T)=\ensuremath{-}T\ensuremath{-}2\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Lambda}}/{M}_{P}^{2}+\ensuremath{\alpha}{T}^{\ensuremath{\beta}}$, where two out of the three parameters are independent. This model can efficiently fit observations solving the two tensions. To our knowledge, this is the first time where a modified gravity theory can alleviate both ${H}_{0}$ and ${\ensuremath{\sigma}}_{8}$ tensions simultaneously, hence, offering an additional argument in favor of gravitational modification.