No Arabic abstract
We consider the Peccei-Quinn (PQ) mechanism as the one behind the Dirac neutrino masses when these are generated through the $d=5$ effective operator $bar{L}tilde{H}N_Rphi$ at one loop level, with $phi$ being a Standard Model singlet scalar. In this setup, the PQ symmetry guarantees that the one-loop realization of such an effective operator gives the leading contribution to the Dirac neutrino masses by forbidding the contributions arising from its tree level realizations. All the mediators in the one-loop neutrino mass diagrams can be stabilized by a remnant $Z_N$ symmetry from the PQ symmetry breaking, thus forming a dark sector besides the axion sector and leading to mixed axion/WIMP dark matter scenarios.
In the context of a left-right extension of the standard model of quarks and leptons with the addition of a gauged $U(1)_D$ dark symmetry, it is shown how the electron may obtain a radiative mass in one loop and two Dirac neutrinos obtain masses in three loops.
In 2006, a simple extension of the Standard Model was proposed in which neutrinos obtain radiative Majorana masses at one-loop level from their couplings with dark matter, hence the term scotogenic, from the Greek scotos meaning darkness. Here an analogous mechanism for Dirac neutrino masses is discussed in a minimal model. In different ranges of the parameter space, various candidates for dark matter are possible. In particular, the lightest Dirac fermion which appears in the loop diagram generating neutrino mass can be a viable dark matter candidate. Such a possibility does not exist for the Majorana case. Realistic neutrino mixing in the context of $A_4$ is discussed. A possible supersymmetric extension is also briefly discussed.
A recent paper investigated minimal R$ u$MDM models with the type T1-iii and T3 one-loop topologies. However, the candidate most-minimal model does not possess an accidental symmetry - the scalar potential contains an explicit symmetry breaking term, rendering the dark matter unstable. We present two models that cure this problem. However, we further show that all of the proposed minimal one-loop R$ u$MDM models suffer from a second problem - an additional source of explicit $Z_2$ symmetry breaking in the Yukawa sector. We perform a more-general analysis to show that neutrino mass models using either the type T3 or type T1-iii one-loop topologies do not give viable minimal dark matter candidates. Consequently, one-loop models of neutrino mass with minimal dark matter do not appear possible. Thus, presently there remains a single known (three-loop) model of neutrino mass that gives stable dark matter without invoking any new symmetries.
The axion arises in well-motivated extensions of the Standard Model of particle physics and is regarded as an alternative to the weakly interacting massive particle paradigm to explain the nature of dark matter. In this contribution, we review theoretical aspects of dark matter axions, particularly focusing on recent developments in the estimation of their relic abundance. A closer look at their non-thermal production mechanisms in the early universe reveals the possibility of explaining the observed dark matter abundance in various mass ranges. The mass ranges predicted in various cosmological scenarios are briefly summarized.
Extending the Standard Model with three right-handed neutrinos and a simple QCD axion sector can account for neutrino oscillations, dark matter and baryon asymmetry; at the same time, it solves the strong CP problem, stabilizes the electroweak vacuum and can implement critical Higgs inflation (satisfying all current observational bounds). We perform here a general analysis of dark matter (DM) in such a model, which we call the $a u$MSM. Although critical Higgs inflation features a (quasi) inflection point of the inflaton potential we show that DM cannot receive a contribution from primordial black holes in the $a u$MSM. This leads to a multicomponent axion-sterile-neutrino DM and allows us to relate the axion parameters, such as the axion decay constant, to the neutrino parameters. We include several DM production mechanisms: the axion production via misalignment and decay of topological defects as well as the sterile-neutrino production through the resonant and non-resonant mechanisms and in the recently proposed CPT-symmetric universe.