No Arabic abstract
We investigate the dark matter and the cosmological baryon asymmetry in a simple theory where baryon (B) and lepton (L) number are local gauge symmetries that are spontaneously broken. In this model, the cold dark matter candidate is the lightest new field with baryon number and its stability is an automatic consequence of the gauge symmetry. Dark matter annihilation is either through a leptophobic gauge boson whose mass must be below a TeV or through the Higgs boson. Since the mass of the leptophobic gauge boson has to be below the TeV scale one finds that in the first scenario there is a lower bound on the elastic cross section of about 5x10^{-46} cm^2. Even though baryon number is gauged and not spontaneously broken until the weak scale, a cosmologically acceptable baryon excess is possible. There is tension between achieving both the measured baryon excess and the dark matter density.
We propose a new mechanism where asymmetric dark matter (ADM) and the baryon asymmetry are both generated in the same decay chain of a metastable weakly interacting massive particle (WIMP) after its thermal freeze-out. Dark matter and baryons are connected by a generalized baryon number that is conserved, while the DM asymmetry and baryon asymmetry compensate each other. This unified framework addresses the DM-baryon coincidence while inheriting the merit of the conventional WIMP miracle in predicting relic abundances of matter. Examples of renormalizable models realizing this scenario are presented. These models generically predict ADM with sub-GeV to GeV-scale mass that interacts with Standard Model quarks or leptons, thus rendering potential signatures at direct detection experiments sensitive to low mass DM. Other interesting phenomenological predictions are also discussed, including: LHC signatures of new intermediate particles with color or electroweak charge and DM induced nucleon decay; the long-lived WIMP may be within reach of future high energy collider experiments.
We propose a unified setup for dark matter, inflation and baryon asymmetry generation through the neutrino mass seesaw mechanism. Our scenario emerges naturally from an extended gauge group containing $B-L$ as a non-commutative symmetry, broken by a singlet scalar that also drives inflation. Its decays reheat the universe, producing the lightest right-handed neutrino. Automatic matter parity conservation leads to the stability of an asymmetric dark matter candidate, directly linked to the matter-antimatter asymmetry in the universe.
We explore relativistic freeze-in production of scalar dark matter in gauged $B-L$ model, where we focus on the production of dark matter from the decay and annihilation of Standard Model (SM) and $B-L$ Higgs bosons. We consider the Bose-Einstein (BE) and Fermi-Dirac (FD) statistics, along with the thermal mass correction of the SM Higgs boson in our analysis. We show that in addition to the SM Higgs boson, the annihilation and decay of the $B-L$ scalar can also contribute substantially to the dark matter relic density. Potential effects of electroweak symmetry breaking (EWSB) and thermal mass correction in BE framework enhance the dark matter relic substantially as it freezes-in near EWSB temperature via scalar annihilation. However, such effects are not so prominent when the dark matter freezes-in at a later epoch than EWSB, dominantly by decay of scalars. The results of this analysis are rather generic, and applicable to other similar scenarios.
We investigate the Q-ball decay in the gauge-mediated SUSY breaking. Q balls decay mainly into nucleons, and partially into gravitinos, while they are kinematically forbidden to decay into sparticles which would be cosmologically harmful. This is achieved by the Q-ball charge small enough to be unstable for the decay, and large enough to be protected kinematically from unwanted decay channel. We can then have right amounts of the baryon asymmetry and the dark matter of the universe, evading any astrophysical and cosmological observational constraints such as the big bang nucleosynthesis, which has not been treated properly in the literatures.
We investigate the Q-ball decay into the axino dark matter in the gauge-mediated supersymmetry breaking. In our scenario, the Q ball decays mainly into nucleons and partially into axinos to account for the baryon asymmetry and the dark matter of the universe simultaneously. The Q ball decays well before the big bang nucleosynthesis so that it is not affected by the decay. The decay into the supersymmetric particles of the minimal supersymmetric standard model is kinematically prohibited until the very end of the decay, and we could safely make their abundances small enough for the successful big bang nucleosynthesis. We show the regions of axino model parameters and the Q-ball parameters which realize this scenario.