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Title: Toward (finally!) ruling out Z and Higgs mediated dark matter models

Journal Article · · Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics
 [1];  [2];  [3];  [4]
  1. Instituto de Física Corpuscular (IFIC), CSIC-Universitat de València, Apartado de Correos 22085, E-46071 Valencia (Spain)
  2. Department of Physics, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637 (United States)
  3. Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, Center for Particle Astrophysics, Batavia, IL 60510 (United States)
  4. Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637 (United States)

In recent years, direct detection, indirect detection, and collider experiments have placed increasingly stringent constraints on particle dark matter, exploring much of the parameter space associated with the WIMP paradigm. In this paper, we focus on the subset of WIMP models in which the dark matter annihilates in the early universe through couplings to either the Standard Model Z or the Standard Model Higgs boson. Considering fermionic, scalar, and vector dark matter candidates within a model-independent context, we find that the overwhelming majority of these dark matter candidates are already ruled out by existing experiments. In the case of Z mediated dark matter, the only scenarios that are not currently excluded are those in which the dark matter is a fermion with an axial coupling and with a mass either within a few GeV of the Z resonance ( m {sub DM} ≅ m {sub Z} /2) or greater than 200 GeV, or with a vector coupling and with m {sub DM} > 6 TeV . Several Higgs mediated scenarios are currently viable if the mass of the dark matter is near the Higgs pole ( m {sub DM} ≅ m {sub H} /2). Otherwise, the only scenarios that are not excluded are those in which the dark matter is a scalar (vector) heavier than 400 GeV (1160 GeV) with a Higgs portal coupling, or a fermion with a pseudoscalar (CP violating) coupling to the Standard Model Higgs boson. With the exception of dark matter with a purely pseudoscalar coupling to the Higgs, it is anticipated that planned direct detection experiments will probe nearly the entire range of models considered in this study.

OSTI ID:
22680133
Journal Information:
Journal of Cosmology and Astroparticle Physics, Vol. 2016, Issue 12; Other Information: Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 1475-7516
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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Cited By (60)

Gravity-mediated scalar Dark Matter in warped extra-dimensions journal January 2020
Looking for the WIMP next door journal February 2018
Loop corrections to dark matter direct detection in a pseudoscalar mediator dark matter model journal February 2019
Gravitational waves and electroweak baryogenesis in a global study of the extended scalar singlet model journal February 2019
Scalar dark matter: real vs complex journal March 2017
Higgs portals for thermal Dark Matter. EFT perspectives and the NMSSM journal April 2018
WIMP dark matter in the parity solution to the strong CP problem journal April 2019
Reopening the Higgs portal for single scalar dark matter journal May 2017
Higgs portal dark matter in non-standard cosmological histories journal June 2018
Thick branes in extra dimensions and suppressed dark couplings journal June 2019
Vector SIMP dark matter with approximate custodial symmetry journal July 2019
Anomaly-free dark matter models are not so simple journal August 2017
Search for dark matter at colliders journal March 2017
Pseudoscalar mediators: a WIMP model at the neutrino floor journal March 2018
Z ′ mediated WIMPs: dead, dying, or soon to be detected? journal November 2019
Refined bounds on MeV-scale thermal dark sectors from BBN and the CMB journal January 2020
Reviving Z and Higgs mediated dark matter models in matter dominated freeze-out journal January 2020
Effective field theory of the Majorana dark matter journal April 2019
B -physics anomalies: The bridge between R -parity violating supersymmetry and flavored dark matter journal December 2019
Z boson mediated dark matter beyond the effective theory journal February 2017
Minimal model of gravitino dark matter journal May 2017
Lepton-number-charged scalars and neutrino beamstrahlung journal April 2018
Statistical analyses of Higgs- and Z -portal dark matter models journal June 2018
Spin-2 portal dark matter journal June 2018
GeV-scale thermal WIMPs: Not even slightly ruled out journal July 2018
From inflation to cosmological electroweak phase transition with a complex scalar singlet journal July 2018
Freezing-in dark matter through a heavy invisible Z journal August 2018
Phenomenology of doublet-triplet fermionic dark matter in nonstandard cosmology and multicomponent dark sectors journal November 2018
Radiative production of nonthermal dark matter journal March 2019
Dark matter, millicharges, axion and scalar particles, gauge bosons, and other new physics with LDMX journal April 2019
Dark matter interpretation of the ANITA anomalous events journal May 2019
Moduli portal dark matter journal May 2019
Directly Detecting Sub-GeV Dark Matter with Electrons from Nuclear Scattering journal September 2018
Can the Inflaton Also Be a Weakly Interacting Massive Particle? journal March 2019
The waning of the WIMP? A review of models, searches, and constraints journal March 2018
Impact of vacuum stability, perturbativity and XENON1T on global fits of $$\mathbb {Z}_2$$ Z 2 and $$\mathbb {Z}_3$$ Z 3 scalar singlet dark matter journal October 2018
2HDM portal for singlet-doublet dark matter journal October 2018
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Global analyses of Higgs portal singlet dark matter models using GAMBIT journal January 2019
Directly Detecting Sub-GeV Dark Matter with Electrons from Nuclear Scattering text January 2018
Global analyses of Higgs portal singlet dark matter models using GAMBIT text January 2019
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A Minimal Model of Gravitino Dark Matter text January 2017
The Waning of the WIMP? A Review of Models, Searches, and Constraints text January 2017
From inflation to cosmological electroweak phase transition with a complex scalar singlet text January 2018
2HDM portal for Singlet-Doublet Dark Matter text January 2018
Loop corrections to dark matter direct detection in a pseudoscalar mediator dark matter model text January 2018
Moduli Portal Dark Matter text January 2018
WIMP dark matter in the parity solution to the strong CP problem text January 2018
Radiative Production of Non-thermal Dark Matter text January 2019
Thick Branes in Extra Dimensions and Suppressed Dark Couplings text January 2019
Vector SIMP dark matter with approximate custodial symmetry text January 2019
B-physics anomalies: The bridge between R-parity violating Supersymmetry and flavoured Dark Matter text January 2019
$Z'$ Mediated WIMPs: Dead, Dying, or Soon to be Detected? text January 2019
Refined Bounds on MeV-scale Thermal Dark Sectors from BBN and the CMB text January 2019

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