Embedding light dark matter and small neutrino mass in the flipped standard model
We revisit the flipped standard model where a $U(1)_N$ gauge group is added, determining a dark charge through the weak isospin such as $D=T_3+N$, analogous to the electric charge and hypercharge relation. We find %discover that neutrino masses are appropriately generated by a radiative inverse seesaw mechanism mediated by dark fields. Dark matter candidate is a naturally light fermion with the mass radiatively induced at the keV scale. The residual $Z_2$ parity arising from $U(1)_N$ symmetry breaking both stabilizes the dark matter candidate and prevents its potential mixing with neutrinos. Such residual $Z_2$ parity also guarantees the radiative nature of the inverse seesaw mechanism responsible for light active neutrino mass generation. It is noted that the keV dark matter may be thermally produced in the early Universe as decoupled but being still relativistic and typically overpopulated due to $U(1)_N$ portal interactions. To achieve the correct abundance, the excessive thermal production is counterbalanced by sufficient late-time entropy generation from the decay of long-lived particles. The parameter space under consideration can simultaneously accommodate the observational data from cosmic inflation and keV dark matter.