arXiv subjects

Camilo Garcia-Cely

Publications and source records attributed to Camilo Garcia-Cely.

28 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2017

Neutrino Lines from Majoron Dark Matter

Models with spontaneously broken global lepton number can lead to a pseudo-Goldstone boson as a long-lived dark matter candidate. Here we revisit the case of singlet majoron dark matter and discuss multiple constraints. For masses above MeV, this model could lead to a detectable flux of monochromatic mass-eigenstate neutrinos, which have flavor ratios that depend strongly on the neutrino mass hierarchy. We provide a convenient parametrization for the loop-induced majoron couplings to charged fermions that allows us to discuss three-generation effects such as lepton flavor violation. These couplings are independent of the low-energy neutrino parameters but can be constrained by the majoron decays into charged fermions.

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arXiv2016

Can the relic density of self-interacting dark matter be due to annihilations into Standard Model particles?

Motivated by the hypothesis that dark matter self-interactions provide a solution to the small-scale structure formation problems, we investigate the possibilities that the relic density of a self-interacting dark matter candidate can proceed from the thermal freeze-out of annihilations into Standard Model particles. We find that scalar and Majorana dark matter in the mass range of $10-500$ MeV, coupled to a slightly heavier massive gauge boson, are the only possible candidates in agreement with multiple current experimental constraints. Here dark matter annihilations take place at a much slower rate than the self-interactions simply because the interaction connecting the Standard Model and the dark matter sectors is small. We also discuss prospects of establishing or excluding these two scenarios in future experiments.

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arXiv2016

Indirect searches of dark matter via polynomial spectral features

We derive the spectra arising from non-relativistic dark matter annihilations or decays into intermediary particles with arbitrary spin, which subsequently produce neutrinos or photons via two-body decays. Our approach is model independent and predicts spectral features restricted to a kinematic box. The overall shape within that box is a polynomial determined by the polarization of the decaying particle. We illustrate our findings with two examples. First, with the neutrino spectra arising from dark matter annihilations into the massive Standard Model gauge bosons. Second, with the gamma-ray and neutrino spectra generated by dark matter annihilations into hypothetical massive spin-2 particles. Our results are in particular applicable to the 750 GeV diphoton excess observed at the LHC if interpreted as a spin-0 or spin-2 particle coupled to dark matter. We also derive limits on the dark matter annihilation cross section into this resonance from the non-observation of the associated gamma-ray spectral features by the H.E.S.S. telescope.

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arXiv2016

Phenomenology of left-right symmetric dark matter

We present a detailed study of dark matter phenomenology in low-scale left-right symmetric models. Stability of new fermion or scalar multiplets is ensured by an accidental matter parity that survives the spontaneous symmetry breaking of the gauge group by scalar triplets. The relic abundance of these particles is set by gauge interactions and gives rise to dark matter candidates with masses above the electroweak scale. Dark matter annihilations are thus modified by the Sommerfeld effect, not only in the early Universe, but also today, for instance, in the Center of the Galaxy. Majorana candidates - triplet, quintuplet, bi-doublet, and bi-triplet - bring only one new parameter to the model, their mass, and are hence highly testable at colliders and through astrophysical observations. Scalar candidates - doublet and 7-plet, the latter being only stable at the renormalizable level - have additional scalar-scalar interactions that give rise to rich phenomenology. The particles under discussion share many features with the well-known candidates wino, Higgsino, inert doublet scalar, sneutrino, and Minimal Dark Matter. In particular, they all predict a large gamma-ray flux from dark matter annihilations, which can be searched for with Cherenkov telescopes. We furthermore discuss models with unequal left-right gauge couplings, $g_R \neq g_L$, taking the recent experimental hints for a charged gauge boson with 2 TeV mass as a benchmark point. In this case, the dark matter mass is determined by the observed relic density.

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arXiv2016

Production Regimes for Self-Interacting Dark Matter

In the context of Self-Interacting Dark Matter as a solution for the small-scale structure problems, we consider the possibility that Dark Matter could have been produced without being in thermal equilibrium with the Standard Model bath. We discuss one by one the following various dark matter production regimes of this kind: freeze-in, reannihilation and dark freeze-out. We exemplify how these mechanisms work in the context of the particularly simple Hidden Vector Dark Matter model. In contrast to scenarios where there is thermal equilibrium with the Standard Model bath, we find two regimes which can easily satisfy all the laboratory and cosmological constraints. These are dark freeze-out with 3-to-2 annihilations and freeze-in via a light mediator. In the first regime, different temperatures in the visible and the Dark Matter sectors allow us to avoid the constraints coming from cosmic structure formation as well as the use of non-perturbative couplings to reproduce the observed relic density. For the second regime, different couplings are responsible for Dark Matter relic density and self-interactions, permitting to surpass BBN, X-ray, CMB and direct detection constraints.

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arXiv2015

Gamma-rays from Heavy Minimal Dark Matter

We consider the annihilation into gamma rays of Minimal Dark Matter candidates in the fermionic 5-plet and scalar 7-plet representations of $SU(2)_L$, taking into account both the Sommerfeld effect and the internal bremsstrahlung. Assuming the Einasto profile, we show that present measurements of the Galactic Center by the H.E.S.S. instrument exclude the 5-plet and 7-plet as the dominant form of dark matter for masses between 1 TeV and 20 TeV, in particular, the 5-plet mass leading to the observed dark matter density via thermal freeze-out. We also discuss prospects for the upcoming Cherenkov Telescope Array, which will be able to probe even heavier dark matter masses, including the scenario where the scalar 7-plet is thermally produced.

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arXiv2015

WIMP and SIMP Dark Matter from the Spontaneous Breaking of a Global Group

We propose and study a scalar extension of the Standard Model which respects a $\mathbb{Z}_3$ symmetry remnant of the spontaneous breaking of a global $U(1)_\text{DM}$ symmetry. Consequently, this model has a natural dark matter candidate and a Goldstone boson in the physical spectrum. In addition, the Higgs boson properties are changed with respect to the Standard Model due to the mixing with a new particle. We explore regions in the parameter space taking into account bounds from the measured Higgs properties, dark matter direct detection as well as measurements of the effective number of neutrino species before recombination. The dark matter relic density is determined by three classes of processes: the usual self-annihilation, semi-annihilation and purely dark matter $3 \to 2$ processes. The latter has been subject of recent interest leading to the so-called `Strongly Interacting Massive Particle' (SIMP) scenario. We show under which conditions our model can lead to a concrete realization of such scenario and study the possibility that the dark matter self-interactions could address the small scale structure problems. In particular, we find that in order for the SIMP scenario to work, the dark matter mass must be in the range $7-115$ MeV, with the global symmetry energy breaking scale in the TeV range.

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arXiv2014

Cosmological and astrophysical signatures of dark matter annihilations into pseudo-Goldstone bosons

We investigate a model where the dark matter particle is a chiral fermion field charged under a global $U(1)$ symmetry which is assumed to be spontaneously broken, leading to a pseudo-Goldstone boson (PGB). We argue that the dark matter annihilation into PGBs determine the dark matter relic abundance. Besides, we also note that experimental searches for PGBs allow either for a very long lived PGB, with a lifetime much longer than the age of the Universe, or a relatively short lived PGB, with a lifetime shorter than one minute. Hence, two different scenarios arise, producing very different signatures. In the long lived PGB scenario, the PGB might contribute significantly to the radiation energy density of the Universe. On the other hand, in the short lived PGB scenario, and since the decay length is shorter than one parsec, the s-wave annihilation into a PGB and a $CP$ even dark scalar in the Galactic center might lead to an intense box feature in the gamma-ray energy spectrum, provided the PGB decay branching ratio into two photons is sizable. We also analyze the constraints on these two scenarios from thermal production, the Higgs invisible decay width and direct dark matter searches.

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arXiv2013

Dark matter production from Goldstone boson interactions and implications for direct searches and dark radiation

The stability of the dark matter particle could be attributed to the remnant $Z_2$ symmetry that arises from the spontaneous breaking of a global U(1) symmetry. This plausible scenario contains a Goldstone boson which, as recently shown by Weinberg, is a strong candidate for dark radiation. We show in this paper that this Goldstone boson, together with the CP-even scalar associated to the spontaneous breaking of the global U(1) symmetry, plays a central role in the dark matter production. Besides, the mixing of the CP-even scalar with the Standard Model Higgs boson leads to novel Higgs decay channels and to interactions with nucleons, thus opening the possibility of probing this scenario at the LHC and in direct dark matter search experiments. We carefully analyze the latter possibility and we show that there are good prospects to observe a signal at the future experiments LUX and XENON1T provided the dark matter particle was produced thermally and has a mass larger than ~25 GeV.

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arXiv2013

Novel Gamma-ray Spectral Features in the Inert Doublet Model

The inert doublet model contains a neutral stable particle which is an excellent dark matter candidate. We discuss in this paper the indirect signatures of this model in gamma-rays when the dark matter mass is larger than the $W$ boson mass. We show that, in addition to the featureless gamma-ray spectrum produced in the annihilations into two weak gauge bosons, the model generically predicts a distinctive spectral feature from the internal bremsstrahlung process $H^0 H^0 \rightarrow W^+ W^- γ$. We discuss under which conditions the spectral feature is generated and we construct a number of benchmark points, compatible with the observed relic density and all other direct and indirect detection experiments, which lead to a sharp gamma-ray feature from internal bremsstrahlung.

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