Abstract
A new U(1) "dark"gauge group coupled to the Standard Model (SM) via the kinetic mixing portal provides a dark matter candidate in the form of the Higgs field, hd, responsible for generating the mass of the dark photon, γd. We show that the condition mhd≤mγd, together with smallness of the kinetic mixing parameter, ϵ, and/or dark gauge coupling, gd, leads the dark Higgs to be sufficiently metastable to constitute dark matter. We analyze the Universe's thermal history and show that both freeze-in, SM→{γd,hd}, and freeze-out, {γd,hd}→SM, processes can lead to viable dark Higgs dark matter with a sub-GeV mass and a kinetic mixing parameter in the range 10-13≲ϵ≲10-6. Observable signals in astrophysics and cosmology include modifications to primordial elemental abundances, altered energetics of supernovae explosions, dark Higgs decays in the late Universe, and dark matter self-interactions.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Article number | 035027 |
| Journal | Physical Review D |
| Volume | 103 |
| Issue number | 3 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Feb 25 2021 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:We thank H. Liu, P. Meade, A. Pierce, and H. Ramani for helpful discussions. J. T. R. is supported by NSF CAREER Grant No. PHY-1554858 and NSF Grant No. PHY-1915409. J. T. R. acknowledges hospitality from the Aspen Center for Physics, which is supported by the NSF Grant No. PHY-1607611. C. M. is partially supported by Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics. Research at Perimeter Institute is supported in part by the Government of Canada through the Department of Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada and by the Province of Ontario through the Ministry of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 authors.