arXiv subjects

Johannes Herms

Publications and source records attributed to Johannes Herms.

13 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

How common are grand unified theories?

The individual fermion generations of the Standard Model fit neatly into a representation of a simple Grand Unified Theory gauge algebra. If Grand Unification is not realized in nature, this would appear to be a coincidence. We attempt to quantify how frequently this coincidence occurs among theories with group structure and fermion content similar to the Standard Model. While many of the completely chiral, anomaly-free fermion representations of the Standard Model gauge algebra that are no larger than the single generation Standard Model are unifiable, we find that unifiability quickly becomes rare when the analysis is extended to include other gauge algebras or larger representations. This purely group-theoretical analysis may be taken as a bottom-up indication for Grand Unification, conceptually similar to a naturalness argument.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2025

Flavor-Specific Dark Matter Signatures through the Lens of Neutrino Oscillations

We investigate the flavor-specific properties of leptophilic dark matter in neutrino mass models, where dark matter signals are directly correlated with the neutrino oscillation data, providing complementary insights into the neutrino mass hierarchy and CP phases. Notably, this can be accomplished without introducing a flavor-specific portal to dark matter, imposing any new flavor symmetry, or involving flavon fields. As a case study, we analyze the correlation between the flavor-philic nature of dark matter and neutrino oscillation data in the type-II seesaw and Zee-Babu models, and extend this discussion to other neutrino mass models. We analyze the indirect signatures of such leptophilic dark matter, specifically examining the spectrum of the cosmic ray electron/positron flux resulting from the pair annihilation of dark matter in the Galactic halo, and explore correlated lepton-specific signals at collider experiments sensitive to neutrino oscillation data.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2023

Light Neutrinophilic Dark Matter from a Scotogenic Model

We present a minimal sub-GeV thermal Dark Matter (DM) model where the DM primarily interacts with neutrinos and participates in neutrino mass generation through quantum loop corrections at one-loop level. We discuss the challenges in achieving this in the scotogenic framework and identify a viable variant. Due to minimality and the interplay between obtaining the correct DM relic abundance and neutrino oscillation data, the model predicts (i) a massless lightest neutrino, (ii) enhanced rate of $0νββ$ decay due to loop corrections involving light DM exchange, and (iii) testable lepton flavor-violating signal $μ\to eγ$. Detecting monoenergetic neutrinos from DM annihilation in next-generation neutrino detectors offers a promising way to test this scenario.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2023

Discrete dark matter mechanism as the source of neutrino mass scales

The hierarchy in scale between atmospheric and solar neutrino mass splittings is investigated through two distinct neutrino mass mechanisms, from tree- and one-loop-level contributions. We demonstrate that the minimal discrete dark matter mechanism contains the ingredients for explaining this hierarchy. This scenario is characterized by adding new RH neutrinos and scalar $SU(2)$-doublets to the Standard Model as triplet representations of an $A_4$ flavor symmetry. The $A_4$ symmetry breaking, which occurs at the electroweak scale, leads to a residual $\mathbb{Z}_2$ symmetry responsible for the dark matter stability and dictates the neutrino phenomenology. Finally, we show that to reproduce the neutrino mixing angles correctly it is necessary to violate CP in the scalar potential.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2023

Neutrino mass hierarchy from the discrete dark matter model

We explore a possible explanation for the hierarchy in scale between the atmospheric and solar neutrino mass differences ($\lvert Δm^{2}_{31} \rvert$, and $Δm^{2}_{21}$) through the presence of two distinct neutrino mass mechanisms from tree- and one-loop-level contributions. We demonstrate that the ingredients needed to explain this hierarchy are present in the minimal discrete dark matter model [arXiv:2301.10811]. This scenario is characterized by adding new RH neutrinos and scalar $SU(2)$ doublets to the Standard Model as triplet representations of an $A_4$ flavour symmetry. The $A_4$ symmetry breaking, which occurs at the electroweak scale, leads to a residual $\mathbb{Z}_2$ symmetry responsible for the dark matter stability and dictates the neutrino phenomenology. We show that CP breaking in the scalar potential is needed to fit the neutrino mixing angles.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2022

Light thermal relics enabled by a second Higgs

Sub-GeV thermal relic dark matter typically requires the existence of a light mediator particle. We introduce the light two-Higgs-doublet portal, illustrated by a minimal UV-complete model for sub-GeV dark matter with kinematically forbidden annihilations into leptons. All new physics states in this scenario lie at or below the electroweak scale, affecting Higgs physics, the muon anomalous magnetic moment and potentially neutrino masses. Observation of radiative dark matter annihilation by future MeV gamma-ray telescopes would be key to unambiguously identify the scenario.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2022

Reevaluation of the cosmic antideuteron flux from cosmic-ray interactions and from exotic sources

Cosmic-ray antideuterons could be a key for the discovery of exotic phenomena in our Galaxy, such as dark-matter annihilations or primordial black hole evaporation. Unfortunately the theoretical predictions of the antideuteron flux at Earth are plagued with uncertainties from the mechanism of antideuteron production and propagation in the Galaxy. We present the most up-to-date calculation of the antideuteron fluxes from cosmic-ray collisions with the interstellar medium and from exotic processes. We include for the first time the antideuteron inelastic interaction cross section recently measured by the ALICE collaboration to account for the loss of antideuterons during propagation. In order to bracket the uncertainty in the expected fluxes, we consider several state-of-the-art models of antideuteron production and of cosmic-ray propagation.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2022

Minimal realization of light thermal Dark Matter

We propose a minimal UV-complete model for kinematically forbidden Dark Matter (DM) leading to a sub-GeV thermal relic. Our crucial realization is that the two-Higgs-doublet model can provide a light mediator through which the DM can annihilate into SM leptons, avoiding indirect detection constraints. The DM mass is predicted to be very close to the mass of the leptons, which can potentially be identified from DM annihilation into gamma-rays. Due to sizable couplings to muons in reproducing the DM relic abundance, this framework naturally favors a resolution to the $(g-2)_μ$ anomaly. Furthermore, by embedding this setup to the Zee model, we show that the phenomenon of neutrino oscillations is inherently connected to the observed relic abundance of DM. All new physics involved in our framework lies at or below the electroweak scale, making it testable at upcoming colliders, beam-dump experiments, and future sub-GeV gamma-ray telescopes.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2021

Neutrino parameters in the Planck-scale lepton number breaking scenario with extended scalar sectors

Two-loop effects on the right-handed neutrino masses can have an impact on the low-energy phenomenology, especially when the right-handed neutrino mass spectrum is very hierarchical at the cut-off scale. In this case, the physical masses of the lighter right-handed neutrinos can be dominated by quantum effects induced by the heavier ones. Further, if the heaviest right-handed neutrino mass is at around the Planck scale, two-loop effects on the right-handed neutrino masses generate, through the seesaw mechanism, an active neutrino mass which is in the ballpark of the experimental values. In this paper we investigate extensions of the Planck-scale lepton number breaking scenario by additional Higgs doublets (inert or not). We find that under reasonable assumptions these models lead simultaneously to an overall neutrino mass scale and to a neutrino mass hierarchy in qualitative agreement with observations.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2021

Production and signatures of multi-flavour dark matter scenarios with t-channel mediators

We investigate the phenomenology of a dark matter scenario containing two generations of the dark matter particle, differing only by their mass and their couplings to the other particles, akin to the quark and lepton sectors of the Standard Model. For concreteness, we consider the case where the two dark matter generations are Majorana fermions that couple to a right-handed lepton and a scalar mediator through Yukawa couplings. We identify different production regimes in the multi-flavor dark matter scenario and we argue that in some parts of the parameter space the heavier generation can play a pivotal role in generating the correct dark matter abundance. In these regions, the strength of the dark matter coupling to the Standard Model can be much larger than in the single-flavored dark matter scenario. Correspondingly the indirect and direct detection signals can be significantly boosted. We also comment on the signatures of the model from the decay of the heavier dark matter generation into the lighter.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2019

Probing multicomponent FIMP scenarios with gamma-ray telescopes

We consider a scenario where the dark sector includes two Feebly Interacting Massive Particles (FIMPs), with couplings to the Standard Model particles that allow their production in the Early Universe via thermal freeze-in. These couplings generically lead to the decay of the heavier dark matter component into the lighter, possibly leading to observable signals of the otherwise elusive FIMPs. Concretely, we argue that the loop induced decay $ψ_2\rightarrowψ_1γ$ for fermionic FIMPs, or $ϕ_2\rightarrowϕ_1γγ$ for scalar FIMPs, could have detectable rates for model parameters compatible with the observed dark matter abundance.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2018

A new mechanism of sterile neutrino dark matter production

We consider a scenario where the dark matter candidate is a sterile neutrino with sizable self-interactions, described by a dimension-six operator, and with negligible interactions with the Standard Model. The relic abundance is set by the freeze-out of 4-to-2 annihilations in the dark sector plasma and reproduces the observed dark matter abundance when the sterile neutrino mass is in the range $\sim 500\,{\rm keV} - 20\,\,{\rm GeV}$. The feeble interactions with the Standard Model may lead to observable signals from dark matter decay. Furthermore, the self-interactions can affect the formation of small scale structures. We also implement this mechanism in a concrete model where the sterile neutrino self-interaction is due to the exchange of a singlet scalar, and we discuss the relevance of the scalar portal interactions for constructing a complete thermal history of the dark sector.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2017

Antideuterons in cosmic rays: sources and discovery potential

Antibaryons are produced in our Galaxy in collisions of high energy cosmic rays with the interstellar medium and in old supernova remnants, and possibly, in exotic sources such as primordial black hole evaporation or dark matter annihilations and decays. The search for signals from exotic sources in antiproton data is hampered by large backgrounds from spallation which, within theoretical errors, can solely account for the current data. Due to the higher energy threshold for antideuteron production, which translates into a suppression of the low energy flux from spallations, antideuteron searches have been proposed as a probe for exotic sources. We perform in this paper a comprehensive analysis of the antideuteron fluxes at the Earth expected from known and hypothetical sources in our Galaxy, and we calculate their maximal values consistent with current antiproton data from AMS-02. We find that supernova remnants generate a negligible flux, whereas primordial black hole evaporation and dark matter annihilations or decays may dominate the total flux at low energies. On the other hand, we find that the detection of cosmic antideuterons would require, for the scenarios studied in this paper and assuming optimistic values of the coalescence momentum and solar modulation, an increase of the experimental sensitivity compared to ongoing and planned instruments by at least a factor of 2. Finally, we briefly comment on the prospects for antihelium-3 detection.

astro-ph.HE↗