No Arabic abstract
We review scenarios in which the particles that account for the Dark Matter (DM) in the Universe interact only through their couplings with the Higgs sector of the theory, the so-called Higgs-portal models. In a first step, we use a general and model-independent approach in which the DM particles are singlets with spin $0,frac12$ or $1$, and assume a minimal Higgs sector with the presence of only the Standard Model (SM) Higgs particle observed at the LHC. In a second step, we discuss non-minimal scenarios in which the spin-$frac12$ DM particle is accompanied by additional lepton partners and consider several possibilities like sequential, singlet-doublet and vector-like leptons. In a third step, we examine the case in which it is the Higgs sector of the theory which is enlarged either by a singlet scalar or pseudoscalar field, an additional two Higgs doublet field or by both; in this case, the matter content is also extended in several ways. Finally, we investigate the case of supersymmetric extensions of the SM with neutralino DM, focusing on the possibility that the latter couples mainly to the neutral Higgs particles of the model which then serve as the main portals for DM phenomenology. In all these scenarios, we summarize and update the present constraints and future prospects from the collider physics perspective, namely from the determination of the SM Higgs properties at the LHC and the search for its invisible decays into DM, and the search for heavier Higgs bosons and the DM companion particles at high-energy colliders. We then compare these results with the constraints and prospects obtained from the cosmological relic abundance as well as from direct and indirect DM searches in astroparticle physics experiments. The complementarity of collider and astroparticle DM searches is investigated in all the considered models.
We present a new model of Stealth Dark Matter: a composite baryonic scalar of an $SU(N_D)$ strongly-coupled theory with even $N_D geq 4$. All mass scales are technically natural, and dark matter stability is automatic without imposing an additional discrete or global symmetry. Constituent fermions transform in vector-like representations of the electroweak group that permit both electroweak-breaking and electroweak-preserving mass terms. This gives a tunable coupling of stealth dark matter to the Higgs boson independent of the dark matter mass itself. We specialize to $SU(4)$, and investigate the constraints on the model from dark meson decay, electroweak precision measurements, basic collider limits, and spin-independent direct detection scattering through Higgs exchange. We exploit our earlier lattice simulations that determined the composite spectrum as well as the effective Higgs coupling of stealth dark matter in order to place bounds from direct detection, excluding constituent fermions with dominantly electroweak-breaking masses. A lower bound on the dark baryon mass $m_B gtrsim 300$ GeV is obtained from the indirect requirement that the lightest dark meson not be observable at LEP II. We briefly survey some intriguing properties of stealth dark matter that are worthy of future study, including: collider studies of dark meson production and decay; indirect detection signals from annihilation; relic abundance estimates for both symmetric and asymmetric mechanisms; and direct detection through electromagnetic polarizability, a detailed study of which will appear in a companion paper.
Mono-$X$ signatures are a powerful collider probe of the nature of dark matter. We show that mono-Higgs and mono-$Z$ may be key signatures of pseudo-scalar portal interactions between dark matter and the SM. We demonstrate this using a simple renormalizable version of the portal, with a Two-Higgs-Doublet-Model as electroweak symmetry breaking sector. Mono-$Z$ and mono-Higgs signatures in this scenario are of resonant type, which constitutes a novel type of dark matter signature at LHC.
We study a fermionic dark matter model in which the interaction of the dark and visible sectors is mediated by Higgs portal type couplings. Specifically, we consider the mixing of a dark sector scalar with the scalars of a Two Higgs Doublet Model extension of the Standard Model. Given that scalar exchange will result in a spin-independent dark matter-nucleon scattering cross section, such a model is potentially subject to stringent direct detection constraints. Moreover, the addition of new charged scalars introduce non-trivial flavour constraints. Nonetheless, this model allows more freedom than a standard Higgs portal scenario involving a single Higgs doublet, and much of the interesting parameter space is not well approximated by a Simplified Model with a single scalar mediator. We perform a detailed parameter scan to determine the mass and coupling parameters which satisfy direct detection, flavour, precision electroweak, stability, and perturbativity constraints, while still producing the correct relic density through thermal freezeout.
Pairs of Standard Model fermions form dimension-3 singlet operators that can couple to new dark sector states. This fermion portal is to be contrasted with the lower-dimensional Higgs, vector and neutrino singlet portals. We characterise its distinct phenomenology and place effective field theory bounds on this framework, focusing on the case of fermion portals to a pair of light dark sector fermions. We obtain current and projected limits on the dimension-6 effective operator scale from a variety of meson decay experiments, missing energy and long-lived particle searches at colliders, as well as astrophysical and cosmological bounds. The DarkEFT public code is made available for recasting these limits, which we illustrate with various examples including an integrated-out heavy dark photon.
The Higgs portal to scalar Dark Matter is considered in the context of non-linearly realised electroweak symmetry breaking. We determine the dominant interactions of gauge bosons and the physical Higgs particle $h$ to a scalar singlet dark matter candidate. Phenomenological consequences are also studied in detail, including the possibility of distinguishing this scenario from the standard Higgs portal in which the electroweak symmetry breaking is linearly realised. Two features of significant impact are: i) the connection between the electroweak scale $v$ and the Higgs particle departs from the $(v+h)$ functional dependence, as the Higgs field is not necessarily an exact electroweak doublet; ii) the presence of specific couplings that arise at different order in the non-linear and in the linear expansions. These facts deeply affect the dark matter relic abundance, as well as the expected signals in direct and indirect searches and collider phenomenology, where Dark Matter production rates are enhanced with respect to the standard portal.