Small Mass Splitting Research Articles

Probing conversion-driven freeze-out at the LHC

Conversion-driven freeze-out is an appealing mechanism to explain the observed relic density while naturally accommodating the null results from direct and indirect detection due to a very weak dark matter coupling. Interestingly, the scenario predicts long-lived particles decaying into dark matter with lifetimes favorably coinciding with the range that can be resolved at the LHC. However, the small mass splitting between the long-lived particle and dark matter renders the visible decay products soft, thus challenging current search strategies. We consider four different classes of searches covering the entire range of lifetimes: heavy stable charge particles, disappearing tracks, displaced vertices, and missing energy searches. We discuss the applicability of these searches to conversion-driven freeze-out and derive current constraints highlighting their complementarity. For the displaced vertex search, we demonstrate how a slight modification of the current analysis significantly improves its sensitivity to the scenario. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

Flavoured Majorana Dark Matter then and now: from freeze-out scenarios to LHC signatures

We study a simplified Dark Matter model in the Dark Minimal Flavour Violation framework. Our model complements the Standard Model with a flavoured Dark Matter Majorana triplet and a coloured scalar mediator that share a Yukawa coupling with the right-handed up-type quarks with the coupling matrix λ. We extend previous work on this topic by exploring a large range of cosmologically viable parameter space, including the coannihilation region and, in particular, the region of conversion-driven freeze-out, while considering constraints from D0–D¯0\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$ {D}^0\\hbox{--} {\\overline{D}}^0 $$\\end{document} mixing as well as constraints from direct and indirect Dark Matter searches. We find various realisations of conversion-driven freeze-out within the model, that open up allowed windows of parameter space towards small mass splittings and very weak Dark Matter couplings. Finally, we probe the model by reinterpreting current LHC searches for missing energy and long-lived particles. We point out gaps in the coverage of current constraints as well as new opportunities to search for the model at the LHC, in particular, the charge asymmetry in single-top production associated with jets and missing energy.

Braneworld sum rules and positive tension branes in a massive gravity

By taking advantage of the braneworld sum rules, we explore the feasibility of constructing a flat 3-brane scenario consisting solely of positive tension branes in a 5D extension of the Lorentz-violating massive gravity. It is found that the theory supports three distinct brane configurations, one of which is exactly what we expected, consisting solely of two positive tension branes. The cosmological problem of Randall-Sundrum-1 model and the gauge hierarchy problem can be solved in this model simultaneously. Furthermore, the analysis of linear perturbations reveals that the tensor, vector and scalar modes are all massive and share the same mass spectrum, except that the ground state of vector mode is absent. Moreover, the tensor and vector modes are robust, but the scalar mode is ghost-like. Interestingly, even though the Kaluza-Klein gravitons have an extremely small mass splitting scale, an estimation of the effective gravitational potential and production of these gravitons on the brane indicates that the phenomenology of the present model is equivalent to that of the 6D ADD model.

Resonant pseudo-Dirac dark matter as a sub-GeV thermal target

Dark matter (DM) could be a pseudo-Dirac thermal relic with a small mass splitting that is coupled off diagonally to a kinetically mixed dark photon. This model, particularly in the sub-GeV mass range, is a key benchmark for accelerator searches and direct detection experiments. Typically, the presence of even a tiny fraction of pseudo-Dirac DM in the excited state around the time of recombination would be excluded by DM annihilation bounds from the cosmic microwave background (CMB); thus, viable thermal histories must typically feature an exponential suppression of the excited state. We revisit assumptions about the thermal history in the resonant regime, where the dark photon mass is slightly more than twice the DM mass (to within ∼10%), leading to an s-channel resonance in the annihilation cross section. This resonance substantially reduces the couplings required for achieving the observed relic abundance, implying that in much of the parameter space, the DM kinetically decouples from the Standard Model well before the final DM relic abundance is achieved. We find that the excited state is not thermally depopulated in this regime. In spite of this, we find that the presence of the excited state does violate CMB bounds, even for arbitrarily small mass splittings. The present-day abundance of the excited state opens up the possibility of signatures that are usually not relevant for pseudo-Dirac DM, including indirect detection, direct detection, and self-interacting DM signatures. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

Decaying Dark Matter and Lyman-α forest constraints

Decaying Cold Dark Matter (DCDM) is a model that is currently under investigation regarding primarily the S 8 tension between cosmic microwave background (CMB) and certain large-scale structure measurements. The decay into one massive and one (or more) massless daughter particle(s) leads to a suppression of the power spectrum in the late universe that depends on the relative mass splitting ϵ = (1 - m 2/M 2)/2 between the mother and massive daughter particle as well as the lifetime τ. In this work we investigate the impact of the BOSS DR14 one-dimensional Lyman-α forest flux power spectrum on the DCDM model using a conservative effective model approach to account for astrophysical uncertainties. Since the suppression of the power spectrum due to decay builds up at low redshift, we find that regions in parameter space that address the S 8 tension can be well compatible with the Lyman-α forest. Nevertheless, for values of the degeneracy parameter ϵ ∼ 0.1-0.5%, for which the power suppression occurs within the scales probed by BOSS Lyman-α data, we find improved constraints compared to previous CMB and galaxy clustering analyses, obtaining τ ≳ 18 Gyrs for small mass splitting. Furthermore, our analysis of the BOSS Lyman-α flux power spectrum allows for values τ ∼ 102 Gyrs, ϵ ∼ 1%, that have been found to be preferred by a combination of Planck and galaxy clustering data with a KiDS prior on S 8, and we even find a hint for a marginal preference within this regime.

HNL mass degeneracy: implications for low-scale seesaws, LNV at colliders and leptogenesis

Low-scale seesaw variants protected by lepton number symmetry provide a natural explanation of the smallness of neutrino masses but, unlike their higher-scale counterparts, with potentially testable phenomenology. The approximate lepton number symmetry arranges the heavy neutrinos in pseudo-Dirac pairs, which might be accessible at collider or even beam dump experiments if their mass is low enough and their mixing with the active neutrinos sufficiently large. Despite their pseudo-Dirac nature, their small mass splittings may lead to oscillations that prevent the cancellation of their potential lepton-number-violating signals. Interestingly, these small splittings may also resonantly enhance the production of a lepton number asymmetry for low-scale leptogenesis scenarios or, for extremely degenerate states, lead to an asymmetry large enough to resonantly produce a keV sterile neutrino dark matter candidate with the correct relic abundance via the Shi-Fuller mechanism. In this work we explore the parameter space of the different low-scale seesaw mechanisms and study the size of these splittings, given their important and interesting phenomenological consequences. While all low-scale seesaw variants share the same dimension 5 and 6 operators when integrating out the heavy states, we point out that the mass splitting of the pseudo-Dirac pairs are very different in different realizations such as the inverse or linear seesaw. This different phenomenology could offer a way to discriminate between low-scale seesaw realizations.

On different approaches to freeze-in and freeze-out leptogenesis with quasi-degenerate neutrinos

We compare two approaches for determining the generation of lepton asymmetry during production and decay of quasi-degenerate neutrinos, namely the density matrix formalism and a recent proposal which does not involve any counting of neutrino number densities and is based on plugging the resummed propagator in a quantum field theory model for neutrino oscillations. We show numerically and analytically that they are almost equivalent for small mass splittings and also discuss the hierarchical limit. The comparison, performed in a simple scalar toy model, helps to understand several issues that have been discussed in the literature.

Co-scattering in micrOMEGAs: A case study for the singlet-triplet dark matter model

In scenarios with very small dark matter (DM) couplings and small mass splittings between the DM and other dark sector particles, so-called “co-scattering” or “conversion-driven freeze-out” can be the dominant mechanism for DM production. We present the inclusion of this mechanism in micrOMEGAs together with a case study of the phenomenological implications in the fermionic singlet-triplet model. For the latter, we focus on the transition between co-annihilation and co-scattering processes. We observe that co-scattering is needed to describe the thermal behaviour of the DM for very small couplings, opening up a new region in the parameter space of the model. The triplet states are often long-lived in this region; we therefore also discuss LHC constraints from long-lived signatures obtained with SModelS.

A combined approach to the analysis of space and ground experimental data within a simplified E_6SSM

Within the Exceptional Supersymmetric Standard Model (E_6SSM), we investigate signatures at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) for a long-lived charged inert higgsino, which is degenerate with the inert neutralino at tree level and a small mass splitting is generated at the loop level, resulting in a lifetime mathcal{O}(0.02) nanoseconds. We focus on the most sensitive search for long-lived charged inert higgsino decays to the lightest neutral inert higgsino dark matter and very soft charged leptons, which are eventually stopped in the detector resulting in a disappearing-track signal. Furthermore, we study the displaced vertex signature of the inert chargino in the case where it is produced via the Z^{prime } portal. We illustrate how difficult it is to construct displaced vertices in this class of models, though some evidence could be gained at the High Luminosity LHC. Finally, we compare the spin independent and spin dependent cross sections of the lightest inert higgsino DM to those of current direct detection experiments, proving that it is possible to gain sensitivity to the active DM component of this scenario in the near future. The combination of these signatures with the one emerging from Z' production and decay via Drell–Yan, which can be characterised as belonging to the E_6SSM via both the cross section and Forward–Backward Asymmetry, could point uniquely to this non-minimal realisation of Supersymmetry.

Searching for inelastic dark matter with future LHC experiments

We consider a dark sector containing a pair of almost degenerate states coupled to the Standard Model through a dark photon mediator. This set-up constitutes a simple realization of the inelastic dark matter scenario. The heaviest dark state is long-lived, in the limit of a small kinetic mixing among the dark photon and the Standard Model hypercharge gauge boson, and/or of a small mass splitting among the dark states. We study the prospects for detection of this scenario at proposed LHC experiments dedicated to search for long-lived particles, namely FASER, MATHUSLA, CODEX-b, AL3X, MAPP, ANUBIS and FACET. We consider both the cases of fermionic and scalar inelastic dark matter. We show that these experimental facilities can probe unexplored regions of the parameter space of this model, and we highlight their complementary roles.

SU(2)D lepton portals for the muon g−2 , W -boson mass, and dark matter

We propose a novel model for lepton flavor and dark matter based on the $SU(2)_D$ gauge symmetry and vector-like leptons in its fundamental representations. We introduce a dark $SU(2)_D$ Higgs doublet and a Higgs bi-doublet for the mass mixing between the vector-like lepton and the lepton. As a result, the seesaw lepton masses are generated and there are sizable one-loop contributions to the muon $g-2$ via the $SU(2)_D$ gauge bosons and the relatively heavy vector-like lepton, as indicated in Fermilab E989. The tree-level mass mixing between the $Z$ boson and the isospin neutral gauge boson of $SU(2)_D$ in our model accounts for the shift in the $W$ boson mass, being consistent with Tevatron CDFII. Finally, we show that the isospin charged gauge boson of $SU(2)_D$ becomes a plausible candidate for dark matter with a small mass splitting tied up to the modified $W$ boson mass, and there is a viable parameter space where the favored corrections to the muon $g-2$ and the $W$ boson mass and the dark matter constraints are simultaneously fulfilled.

Interpretation of XENON1T excess with MeV boosted dark matter * *The work of T. Li was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (11975129, 12035008) and "the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities", Nankai University (63196013). L.-B. Jia acknowledges support from the Longshan academic talent research supporting program of SWUST (18LZX415)

The XENON1T excess of keV electron recoil events may be induced by the scattering of electrons and long-lived particles with an MeV mass and high speed. We consider a tangible model composed of two scalar MeV dark matter (DM) particles, and , to interpret the XENON1T keV excess via boosted . A small mass splitting is introduced, and the boosted can be produced using the dark annihilation process of via a resonant scalar ϕ. electron scattering is intermediated by a vector boson X. Although the constraints from Big Bang nucleosynthesis, cosmic microwave background (CMB), and low-energy experiments set the mediated electron scattering cross section to be , the MeV scale DM with a resonance enhanced dark annihilation today can still provide sufficient boosted and induce the XENON1T keV excess. The relic density of is significantly reduced by the s-wave process , which is permitted by the constraints from CMB and 21-cm absorption. A very small relic fraction of is compatible with the stringent bounds on un-boosted -electron scattering in DM direct detection, and the -electron scattering is also allowed.

Scalar dark matter and radiative Dirac neutrino mass in an extended U(1)B−L model

We explore a gauged U(1)B−L extension of the standard model with inclusion of three right-handed neutrinos of exotic B−L charges to cancel the gauge anomaly. Non-trivial transformation of new particles under B−L symmetry forbids the generation of neutrino mass at tree level and hence a small Dirac mass can be generated radiatively at one loop with scalar, fermion doublets and singlet scalars. We also discuss the phenomenology of a scalar dark matter, which can be obtained from the mixing of neutral CP even component of a doublet scalar and a real singlet scalar. An adhoc Z2 symmetry is required in the current framework to stabilize the dark matter candidate. Presence of new particles with Z2 odd charges and small mass splitting, makes the phenomenology more interesting by governing the relic density with co-annihilation processes. We explore the spin-independent direct detection constraints on dark matter via the scalar mediation. Constraints from lepton flavor violating decay processes like μ→eγ are also discussed.

Experimental Search for Neutron to Mirror Neutron Oscillations as an Explanation of the Neutron Lifetime Anomaly.

An unexplained >4σ discrepancy persists between "beam" and "bottle" measurements of the neutron lifetime. A new model proposed that conversions of neutrons n into mirror neutrons n^{'}, part of a dark mirror sector, can increase the apparent neutron lifetime by 1% via a small mass splitting Δm between n and n^{'} inside the 4.6T magnetic field of the National Institute of Standards and Technology Beam Lifetime experiment. A search for neutron conversions in a 6.6T magnetic field was performed at the Spallation Neutron Source which excludes this explanation for the neutron lifetime discrepancy.

Cosmology and signals of light pseudo-Dirac dark matter

In this paper, we analyze the cosmological evolution, allowed parameter space, and observational prospects for a dark sector consisting of thermally produced pseudo-Dirac fermions with a small mass splitting, coupled to the Standard Model through a dark photon. This scenario is particularly notable in the context of sub-GeV dark matter, where the mass-off-diagonal leading interaction limits applicability of both CMB energy injection constraints and standard direct detection searches. We present the first general study of the thermal history of pseudo-Dirac DM with splittings from 100 eV to MeV, focusing on the depletion of the heavier “excited” state abundance via scatterings and decays, and on the distinctive signals arising from its small surviving abundance. We analyze CMB energy injection bounds on both DM annihilation and decay, accelerator-based probes, and new line-like direct-detection signals from the excited DM down-scattering on either nuclei or electrons, as well as future search prospects in each channel. We also comment on the relevance of this signal to the few-keV Xenon1T electron excess and on possible diurnal modulation of this signal, and introduce a signal-strength parametrization to facilitate the comparison of future experimental results to theoretical expectations.

Dark matter and nature of electroweak phase transition with an inert doublet

We provide a comprehensive and up-to-date analysis of the prospects to realize Dark Matter (DM) in the Inert Doublet Model, while simultaneously enhancing the Electroweak Phase Transition (EWPhT) such as to allow for electroweak baryogenesis. Instead of focusing on certain aspects or mass hierarchies, we perform extensive, yet fine-grained, parameter space scans, where we analyze the nature of the EWPhT in both the light and the heavy DM regions, confronting it with the amount of DM potentially residing in the lightest inert-doublet state. Thereby, we point out a viable region where a non-trivial two-step EWPhT can appear, without being in conflict with direct-detection bounds, which could leave interesting imprints in gravitational wave signatures. We propose new benchmarks with this feature as well as update benchmarks with a strong first-order transition in the light of new XENON1T limits. Moreover, taking into account these latest bounds as well as relevant collider constraints, we envisage a region for light DM with a small mass splitting, lifting the usual assumption of exact degeneracy of the new non-DM scalars, such as to avoid collider bounds while providing a fair DM abundance over a rather large DM mass range. This follows from a detailed survey of the impact of co-annihilations on the abundance, dissecting the various channels.

Indirect detection constraints on the scotogenic dark matter model

Radiative seesaw models have the attractive property of providing dark matter candidates in addition to the generation of neutrino masses. Here we present a study of neutrino signals from the annihilation of dark matter particles that have been gravitationally captured in the Sun in the framework of the scotogenic model. We compute expected event rates in the IceCube detector in its 86-string configuration. As fermionic dark matter does not scatter off nucleons due to its singlet nature and therefore does not accumulate in the Sun, we study the case of scalar dark matter with a scan over the parameter space. Due to a naturally small mass splitting between the two neutral scalar components, inelastic scattering processes with nucleons can occur. We find that for most of the parameter space, i.e. for mass splittings below 500 keV, inelastic scattering in the Sun yields IceCube event rates above 10 events per year, whereas direct detection on Earth is sensitive only to 250 keV. Consequently, a detailed analysis with IceCube could lead to a lower limit on the scalar coupling λ5≳1.6·10-5· m_ DM/TeV. For larger mass splittings, only elastic scattering occurs in the Sun. In this case, XENON1T limits only allow for models with expected event rates of up to \U0001d4aa(0.1) per year. Some of these models, in particular those with large DM mass and fermion coannihilation, could also be tested with a dedicated IceCube analysis of DM annihilation in the Galactic Center.

Dark Photon and Muon g-2 Inspired Inelastic Dark Matter Models at the High-Energy Intensity Frontier.

We study hidden-sector particles at past (CERN-Hamburg-Amsterdam-Rome-Moscow Collaboration and NuCal), present (NA62, SeaQuest, and DarkQuest), and future (LongQuest) experiments at the high-energy intensity frontier. We focus on exploring the minimal vector portal and the next-to-minimal models in which the productions and decays are decoupled. These next-to-minimal models have mostly been devised to explain experimental anomalies while avoiding existing constraints. We demonstrate that proton fixed-target experiments provide one of the most powerful probes for the MeV to few GeV mass range of these models, using inelastic dark matter (iDM) as an example. We consider an iDM model with a small mass splitting that yields the observed dark matter relic abundance, and a scenario with a sizable mass splitting that can also explain the muon g-2 anomaly. We set strong limits based on the CERN-Hamburg-Amsterdam-Rome-Moscow Collaboration and NuCal experiments, which come close to excluding iDM as a full-abundance thermal dark matter candidate in the MeV to GeV mass range. We also make projections based on NA62, SeaQuest, and DarkQuest and update the constraints of the minimal dark photon parameter space. We find that NuCal sets the only existing constraint in ε∼10^{-8}-10^{-4} regime, reaching ∼800 MeV in dark photon mass due to the resonant enhancement of proton bremsstrahlung production. These studies also motivate LongQuest, a three-stage retooling of the SeaQuest experiment with short (≲5 m), medium (∼5 m), and long (≳35 m) baseline tracking stations and detectors as a multipurpose machine to explore new physics.

Exothermic dark mesons in light of electron recoil excess at XENON1T

We consider a novel mechanism to realize exothermic dark matter with dark mesons in the limit of approximate flavor symmetry in a dark QCD. We introduce a local dark U(1)′ symmetry to communicate between dark mesons and the Standard Model via Z′ portal by partially gauging the dark flavor symmetry with flavor-dependent charges for cancelling chiral anomalies in the dark sector. After the dark local U(1)′ is broken spontaneously by the VEV of a dark Higgs, there appear small mass splittings between dark quarks, consequently, leading to small split masses for dark mesons, required to explain the electron recoil excess in XENON1T by the inelastic scattering between dark mesons and electron. We propose a concrete benchmark model for split dark mesons based on SU(3)L× SU(3)R/SU(3)V flavor symmetry and SU(Nc) color group and show that there exists a parameter space making a better fit to the XENON1T data with two correlated peaks from exothermic processes and satisfying the correct relic density, current experimental and theoretical constraints.

Fast flavor oscillations in dense neutrino media with collisions

We investigate the impact of the nonzero neutrino splitting and elastic neutrino-nucleon collisions on fast neutrino oscillations. Our calculations confirm that a small neutrino mass splitting and the neutrino mass hierarchy have very little effect on fast oscillation waves. We also demonstrate explicitly that fast oscillations remain largely unaffected for the time/distance scales that are much smaller than the neutrino mean free path but are damped on larger scales. This damping originates from both the direct modification of the dispersion relation of the oscillation waves in the neutrino medium and the flattening of the neutrino angular distributions over time. Our work suggests that fast neutrino oscillation waves produced near the neutrino sphere can propagate essentially unimpeded which may have ramifications in various aspects of the supernova physics.