Feebly Interacting Massive Particle Research Articles

A model of light pseudoscalar dark matter

The EW-νR model was constructed in order to provide a seesaw scenario operating at the Electroweak scale ΛEW∼246 GeV, keeping the same SM gauge structure. In this model, right-handed neutrinos are non-sterile and have masses of the order ΛEW. They can be searched for at the LHC along with heavy mirror quarks and leptons, the lightest of which has large decay lengths. The model also incorporates a rich scalar sector, consistent with various experimental constraints, predicts a ∼125 GeV scalar with the SM Higgs characteristics satisfying the current LHC Higgs boson data. The seesaw mechanism requires the existence of a complex scalar which is singlet under the SM gauge group. The imaginary part of this complex scalar denoted by As0 is proposed to be the sub-MeV dark matter candidate in this manuscript. We find that the sub-MeV scalar can serve as a viable non-thermal feebly interacting massive particle (FIMP)-DM candidate. This As0 can be a naturally light sub-MeV DM candidate due to its nature as a pseudo-Nambu-Goldstone (PNG) boson in the model. We show that the well-studied freeze out mechanism falls short in this particular framework producing DM overabundance. We identify that the freeze in mechanism produce the correct order of relic density for the sub-MeV DM candidate satisfying all applicable constraints. We also discuss the allowed parameter space arising from the current indirect search bounds for this sub-MeV DM.

Heavy neutrino as dark matter in a neutrinophilic U(1) model

We study the prospect of heavy singlet neutrinos as a dark matter (DM) candidate within a neutrinophilic U(1) model, where the Standard Model (SM) is extended with a U(1) gauge symmetry, and neutrino mass and oscillation parameters are explained through an inverse see-saw mechanism. The lightest of the heavy neutrinos plays the role of the DM, while the newly introduced scalars and the extra gauge boson Z′\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$Z'$$\\end{document} act as mediators between the dark sector and the SM sector. We show the range of model parameters where this DM candidate can be accommodated in the Weakly Interacting Massive Particle (WIMP) or Feebly Interacting Massive Particle (FIMP) scenario. The observed DM relic density (DMRD) is achieved via the new gauge boson and singlet scalar portals in the WIMP scenario, whereas within the FIMP scenario, these two particles assume a distinct yet pivotal role in generating the observed DMRD.

Freeze-in as a complementary process to freeze-out

There are many extensions of the Standard Model with a dark matter (DM) candidate obtained via the freeze-out mechanism. It can happen that after all experimental and theoretical constraints are taken into account, all parameter points have a relic density below the experimentally measured value. This means that the models solve only partially the DM problem, and at least one more candidate is needed. In this work we show that it is possible to further extend the model with a DM candidate obtained via the freeze-in mechanism to be in agreement with the relic density experimental measurement. Once the relic density problem is solved with this addition, new questions are raised. This new model with at least two DM candidates could have a freeze-out undetectable DM particle both in direct and indirect detection. This could happen if the freeze-out DM particle would have a very low density. Hence, a collider DM hint via excess in the missing energy with no correspondence in direct and indirect detection experiments, could signal the existence of a Feebly Interacting Massive Particle (FIMP). Conversely, if a DM particle is found and a particular model can explain all observables except the correct relic density, an extension with an extra FIMP would solve the problem. The freeze-in DM candidate, due to the small portal couplings, will not change the remaining phenomenology.

From WIMPs to FIMPs with low reheating temperatures

Weakly- and Feebly-Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs and FIMPs) are among the best-motivated dark matter (DM) candidates. In this paper, we investigate the production of DM through the WIMP and FIMP mechanisms during inflationary reheating. We show that the details of the reheating, such as the inflaton potential and the reheating temperature, have a strong impact on the genesis of DM. The strong entropy injection caused by the inflaton decay has to be compensated by a reduction of the portal coupling in the case of WIMPs, or by an increase in the case of FIMPs. We pinpoint the smooth transition between the WIMP and the FIMP regimes in the case of low reheating temperature. As an example, we perform a full numerical analysis of the singlet-scalar DM model; however, our results are generic and adaptable to other particle DM candidates.Interestingly, in the singlet-scalar DM model with low-reheating temperature, regions favored by the FIMP mechanism are already being tested by direct detection experiments such as LZ and XENONnT.

FIMP dark matter from flavon portals

We investigate the phenomenology of a non-thermal dark matter (DM) candidate in the context of flavor models that explain the hierarchy in the masses and mixings of quarks and leptons via the Froggatt-Nielsen (FN) mechanism. A flavor-dependent U(1)FN symmetry explains the fermion mass and mixing hierarchy, and also provides a mechanism for suppressed interactions of the DM, assumed to be a Majorana fermion, with the Standard Model (SM) particles, resulting in its FIMP (feebly interacting massive particle) character. Such feeble interactions are mediated by a flavon field through higher dimensional operators governed by the U(1)FN charges. We point out a natural stabilizing mechanism for the DM within this framework with the choice of half-integer U(1)FN charge n for the DM fermion, along with integer charges for the SM fermions and the flavon field. In this flavon portal scenario, the DM is non-thermally produced from the decay of the flavon in the early universe which becomes a relic through the freeze-in mechanism. We explore the allowed parameter space for this DM candidate from relic abundance by solving the relevant Boltzmann equations. We find that reproducing the correct relic density requires the DM mass to be in the range (100 − 300) keV for n = 7.5 and (3 − 10) MeV for n = 8.5 where n is the U(1)FN charge of the DM fermion.

Probing feebly interacting dark matter with monojet searches

Dark matter may consist of feebly interacting massive particles (FIMPs) that never thermalized with the cosmic plasma. Their relic density is achieved via freeze-in for a wide range of masses, significantly expanding the model space that can be tested compared to other production mechanisms. However, testing the tiny couplings required by freeze-in is challenging. We show that FIMPs can be probed by LHC searches for new physics in monojet events with large missing energy. We study a ${Z}^{\ensuremath{'}}$ portal model in which gluon annihilation produces FIMPs in the early universe and today at colliders. Monojet searches by LHC Run 3 might discover new physics accounted for by FIMPs with mass in the MeV--TeV range.

Lower mass bounds on FIMP dark matter produced via freeze-in

Feebly Interacting Massive Particles (FIMPs) are dark matter candidates that never thermalize in the early universe and whose production takes place via decays and/or scatterings of thermal bath particles. If FIMPs interactions with the thermal bath are renormalizable, a scenario which is known as freeze-in, production is most efficient at temperatures around the mass of the bath particles and insensitive to unknown physics at high temperatures. Working in a model-independent fashion, we consider three different production mechanisms: two-body decays, three-body decays, and binary collisions. We compute the FIMP phase space distribution and matter power spectrum, and we investigate the suppression of cosmological structures at small scales. Our results are lower bounds on the FIMP mass. Finally, we study how to relax these constraints in scenarios where FIMPs provide a sub-dominant dark matter component.

Right handed neutrinos, TeV scale BSM neutral Higgs boson, and FIMP dark matter in an EFT framework

We consider an effective field theory framework with three standard model (SM) gauge singlet right handed neutrinos, and an additional SM gauge singlet scalar field. The framework successfully generates eV masses of the light neutrinos via seesaw mechanism, and accommodates a feebly interacting massive particle (FIMP) as dark matter candidate. Two of the gauge singlet neutrinos participate in neutrino mass generation, while the third gauge singlet neutrino is a FIMP dark matter. We explore the correlation between the $\textit{vev}$ of the gauge singlet scalar field which translates as mass of the BSM Higgs, and the mass of dark matter, which arises due to relic density constraint. We furthermore explore the constraints from the light neutrino masses in this set-up. We chose the gauge singlet BSM Higgs in this framework in the TeV scale. We perform a detailed collider analysis to analyse the discovery prospect of the TeV scale BSM Higgs through its di-fatjet signature, at a future $pp$ collider which can operate with $\sqrt{s}=100$ TeV c.m.energy.

Testing freeze-in with axial and vector Z\u2032 bosons

The freeze-in production of Feebly Interacting Massive Particle (FIMP) dark matter in the early universe is an appealing alternative to the well-known — and constrained — Weakly Interacting Massive Particle (WIMP) paradigm. Although challenging, the phenomenology of FIMP dark matter has been receiving growing attention and is possible in a few scenarios. In this work, we contribute to this endeavor by considering a Z′ portal to fermionic dark matter, with the Z′ having both vector and axial couplings and a mass ranging from MeV up to PeV. We evaluate the bounds on both freeze-in and freeze-out from direct detection, atomic parity violation, leptonic anomalous magnetic moments, neutrino-electron scattering, collider, and beam dump experiments. We show that FIMPs can already be tested by most of these experiments in a complementary way, whereas WIMPs are especially viable in the Z′ low mass regime, in addition to the Z′ resonance region. We also discuss the role of the axial couplings of Z′ in our results. We therefore hope to motivate specific realizations of this model in the context of FIMPs, as well as searches for these elusive dark matter candidates.

When feebly interacting massive particles decay into neutrinos: The Neff story

The existence of feebly interacting massive particles (FIMPs) could have significant implications on the effective number of relativistic species $N_\mathrm{eff}$ in the early Universe. In this work, we investigate in detail how short-lived FIMPs that can decay into neutrinos affect $N_\mathrm{eff}$ and highlight the relevant effects that govern its evolution. We show that even if unstable FIMPs inject most of their energy into neutrinos, they may still decrease $N_{\mathrm{eff}}$, and identify neutrino spectral distortions as the driving power behind this effect. As a case study, we consider Heavy Neutral Leptons (HNLs) and indicate which regions of their parameter space increase or decrease $N_{\mathrm{eff}}$. Moreover, we derive bounds on the HNL lifetime from the Cosmic Microwave Background and comment on the possible role that HNLs could play in alleviating the Hubble tension.

FIMP Dark Matter from Leptogenesis in Fast Expanding Universe

Within the framework of canonical type-I seesaw, a feebly interacting massive particle (FIMP) χ is introduced as a dark matter candidate. The leptogenesis mechanism and dark matter relic density share a common origin via decays of Majorana neutrinos N. Provided an additional species φ whose energy density red-shifts as ρφ ∝ a -(4+n), the Hubble expansion rate is larger than the standard scenario, i.e., the Universe expands faster. The consequences of such a fast expanding Universe (FEU) on leptogenesis as well as FIMP dark matter are investigated in detail. We demonstrate a significant impact on the final baryon asymmetry and dark matter abundance due to the existence of φ for the strong washout scenario. While for the weak washout scenario, the effects of FEU are relatively small. We introduce scale factors FL and F χ to describe the corresponding effects of FEU. A semi-analytical approach to derive the efficiency factors η L and ηχ in FEU is also discussed. The viable parameter space for success thermal leptogenesis and correct FIMP DM relic density is obtained for standard cosmology and FEU. Our results show that it is possible to distinguish different cosmology scenarios for strong washout cases.

FIMP Dark Matter in Clockwork/Linear Dilaton extra-dimensions

We study the possibility that Dark Matter (DM) is made of Feebly Interacting Massive Particles (FIMP) interacting just gravitationally with the Standard Model particles in the framework of a Clockwork/Linear Dilaton (CW/LD) model. We restrict here to the case in which the DM particles are scalar fields. This paper extends our previous study of FIMP’s in Randall-Sundrum (RS) warped extra-dimensions. As it was the case in the RS scenario, also in the CW/LD model we find a significant region of the parameter space in which the observed DM relic abundance can be reproduced with scalar DM mass in the MeV range, with a reheating temperature varying from 10 GeV to 109 GeV. We comment on the similarities of the results in both extra-dimensional models.

Neutrino portal to FIMP dark matter with an early matter era

We study the freeze-in production of Feebly Interacting Massive Particle (FIMP) dark matter candidates through a neutrino portal. We consider a hidden sector comprised of a fermion and a complex scalar, with the lightest one regarded as a FIMP candidate. We implement the Type-I Seesaw mechanism for generating the masses of the Standard Model (SM) neutrinos by introducing three heavy neutrinos which are assumed to be degenerated, for simplicity, and are also responsible for mediating the interactions be- tween the hidden and the SM sectors. We assume that an early matter-dominated (EMD) era took place for some period between inflation and Big Bang Nucleosynthesis, making the Universe to expand faster than in the standard radiation-dominated era. In this case, the hidden and SM sectors are easily decoupled and larger couplings between FIMPs and SM particles are needed from the relic density constraints. In this context, we discuss the dynamics of dark matter throughout the modified cosmic history, evaluate the relevant constraints of the model and discuss the consequences of the duration of the EMD era for the dark matter production. Finally, we show that if the heavy neutrinos are not part of the thermal bath, this scenario becomes testable through indirect detection searches.

Interplay between neutrino and gravity portals for FIMP dark matter

In the classic type I seesaw mechanism with very heavy right-handed (RH) neutrinos, it is possible to account for dark matter via RH neutrino portal couplings to a feebly interacting massive particle (FIMP) dark sector. However, for large RH neutrino masses, gravity can play an important role. We study the interplay between the neutrino portal through the right-handed neutrinos and the gravity portal through the massless spin-2 graviton in producing dark matter particles in the early universe. As a concrete example, we consider the minimal and realistic Littlest Seesaw model with two RH neutrinos, augmented with a dark scalar and a dark fermion charged under a global U(1)D dark symmetry. In the model, the usual seesaw neutrino Yukawa couplings and the right-handed neutrino masses (the lightest being about 5× 1010 GeV) are fixed by neutrino oscillations data and leptogenesis. Hence, we explore the parameter space of the two RH neutrino portal couplings, the two dark particle masses and the reheating temperature of the universe, where the correct dark matter relic abundance is achieved through the freeze-in mechanism. In particular, we highlight which class of processes dominate the dark matter production. We find that, despite the presence of the gravity portal, the dark matter production relies on the usual seesaw neutrino Yukawa coupling in some regions of the parameter space, so realising a direct link between dark matter and neutrino phenomenology. Finally, we report the threshold values for the neutrino portal couplings below which the neutrino portal is irrelevant and the Planckian Interacting Dark Matter paradigm is preserved.

Kaluza-Klein FIMP dark matter in warped extra-dimensions

We study for the first time the case in which Dark Matter (DM) is made of Feebly Interacting Massive Particles (FIMP) interacting just gravitationally with the standard model particles in an extra-dimensional Randall-Sundrum scenario. We assume that both the dark matter and the standard model are localized in the IR-brane and only interact via gravitational mediators, namely the graviton, the Kaluza-Klein gravitons and the radion. We found that in the early Universe DM could be generated via two main processes: the direct freeze-in and the sequential freeze-in. The regions where the observed DM relic abundance is produced are largely compatible with cosmological and collider bounds.

Probing multicomponent FIMP scenarios with gamma-ray telescopes

We consider a scenario where the dark sector includes two Feebly Interacting Massive Particles (FIMPs), with couplings to the Standard Model particles that allow their production in the Early Universe via thermal freeze-in. These couplings generically lead to the decay of the heavier dark matter component into the lighter, possibly leading to observable signals of the otherwise elusive FIMPs. Concretely, we argue that the loop induced decay ψ2→ψ1γ for fermionic FIMPs, or ϕ2→ϕ1γγ for scalar FIMPs, could have detectable rates for model parameters compatible with the observed dark matter abundance.

Constraining FIMP from the structure formation of the Universe: analytic mapping from mWDM

A feebly interacting massive particle (FIMP), contrasting with a weakly interacting massive particle (WIMP), is an intriguing dark matter (DM) candidate. Light (keV-scale) FIMP DM is of particular interest: its radiative decay leaves a line signal in x-ray spectra; and it is warm dark matter (WDM) and alters the galactic-scale structure formation of the Universe from that with WIMP DM . Once a possible x-ray line is reported (e.g., 3.5 keV line infers 7 keV FIMP DM), one has to check whether or not this FIMP DM is compatible with the structure formation. Here is an issue: the structure formation constraint on WDM is often reported in terms of the so-called thermal WDM mass mWDM, which cannot be directly applied to FIMP parameters. In this paper, we introduce a benchmark FIMP model that represents well a broad class of FIMP models. A big advantage of this benchmark is that we can derive the analytic formula of the non-thermal phase space distribution of FIMPs produced from freeze-in processes. By further deriving a certain “warmness” quantity, we can analytically map mWDM to FIMP parameters. Our analytic map indicates that 7 keV FIMP DM, without entropy production or a degenerate spectrum, is in tension with the latest Lyman-α forest data. Our analytic map will be very useful for future updates of observational constraints and reports of x-ray lines. It is also very easy to incorporate our analytic formula into a Boltzmann solver so that a linear matter power spectrum is readily accessible. Our benchmark model will facilitate FIMP searches and particle physics model-building.

LHC-friendly minimal freeze-in models

We propose simple freeze-in models where the observed dark matter abundance is explained via the decay of an electrically charged and/or coloured parent particle into Feebly Interacting Massive Particles (FIMP). The parent particle is long-lived and yields a wide variety of LHC signatures depending on its lifetime and quantum numbers. We assess the current constraints and future high luminosity reach of these scenarios at the LHC from searches for heavy stable charged particles, disappearing tracks, displaced vertices and displaced leptons. We show that the LHC constitutes a powerful probe of freeze-in dark matter and can further provide interesting insights on the validity of vanilla baryogenesis and leptogenesis scenarios.

Two component Feebly Interacting Massive Particle (FIMP) dark matter

We explore the idea of an alternative candidate for particle dark matter namely Feebly Interacting Massive Particle (FIMP) in the framework of a two component singlet scalar model. Singlet scalar dark matter has already been demonstrated to be a viable candidate for WIMP (Weakly Interacting Massive Particle) dark matter in literature. In the FIMP scenario, dark matter particles are slowly produced via “thermal freeze-in” mechanism in the early Universe and are never abundant enough to reach thermal equilibrium or to undergo pair annihilation inside the Universe's plasma due to their extremely small couplings. We demonstrate that for smaller couplings too, required for freeze-in process, a two component scalar dark matter model considered here could well be a viable candidate for FIMP . In this scenario, the Standard Model of particle physics is extended by two gauge singlet real scalars whose stability is protected by an unbroken Z2× Z′2 symmetry and they are assumed to acquire no VEV after Spontaneous Symmetry Breaking. We explore the viable mass regions in the present two scalar DM model that is in accordance with the FIMP scenario. We also explore the upper limits of masses of the two components from the consideration of their self interactions.

FIMP dark matter freeze-in gauge mediation and hidden sector

We explore the dark matter freeze-in mechanism within the gauge mediation framework, which involves a hidden feebly interacting massive particle (FIMP) coupling feebly with the messenger fields while the messengers are still in the thermal bath. The FIMP is the fermionic component of the pseudo-moduli in a generic metastable supersymmetry (SUSY) breaking model and resides in the hidden sector. The relic abundance and the mass of the FIMP are determined by the SUSY breaking scale and the feeble coupling. The gravitino, which is the canonical dark matter candidate in the gauge mediation framework, contributes to the dark matter relic abundance along with the freeze-in of the FIMP. The hidden sector thus becomes two-component with both the FIMP and gravitino lodging in the SUSY breaking hidden sector. We point out that the ratio between the FIMP and the gravitino is determined by how SUSY breaking is communicated to the messengers. In particular when the FIMP dominates the hidden sector, the gravitino becomes the minor contributor in the hidden sector. Meanwhile, the neutralino is assumed to be both the weakly interacting massive particle dark matter candidate in the freeze-out mechanism and the lightest observable SUSY particle. We further find out the neutralino has the sub-leading contribution to the current dark matter relic density in the parameter space of our freeze-in gauge mediation model. Our result links the SUSY breaking scale in the gauge mediation framework with the FIMP freeze-in production rate leading to a natural and predicting scenario for the studies of the dark matter in the hidden sector.