arXiv subjects

Maximilian Detering

Publications and source records attributed to Maximilian Detering.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

A Solar Probe of Dark Matter Decay in the Galaxy

Dark matter (DM) particles decaying in the Galactic halo can inject energetic $e^\pm$ that inverse-Compton scatter (ICS) solar photons into $γ$-rays, producing a diffuse and extended halo of emission around the Sun. We present the first quantitative study of this signal as an indirect probe of decaying DM. The intense solar photon field in the inner heliosphere amplifies the inverse-Compton emissivity by many orders of magnitude relative to the interstellar radiation field, making the Sun an unusually sensitive local converter of sunlight into $γ$-rays via scattering with injected $e^\pm$. Using 15 years of Fermi-LAT solar-halo data, we derive stringent limits on the DM lifetime for 10 GeV-10TeV masses at the level of $τ_χ\sim 10^{27}\,\mathrm{s}$ in leptonic decay channels. The predicted surface brightness rises steeply toward the Sun, and the $γ$-ray flux falls off at high energy due to Klein-Nishina suppression. Solar ICS $γ$-rays measured with degree scale angular resolution therefore provide a novel and complementary probe of DM decays, adding a local $γ$-ray search channel that is systematically distinct from both Galactic diffuse analyses and direct charged-particle measurements.

astro-ph.HE↗

arXiv2025

A new connection between WIMP dark matter and the hierarchy problem

This work proposes a direct link between the hierarchy problem and Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs): we suggest that the small mass of the Higgs boson arises from being dynamically driven to the scale of the WIMP. Such a special electroweak vacuum is singled out by lying close to the critical boundary of a phase transition, as recently explored in a new class of cosmological solutions to the hierarchy problem. They generically predict the Higgs potential to be destabilised just above the weak scale. Intriguingly, the requirement for new physics to achieve this coincides with two independently well-motivated expectations: a split spectrum of light fermions and heavy bosons, as anticipated from naturalness, and the so-called "WIMP miracle". A WIMP with mass around the weak scale not only happens to have the correct thermal relic abundance to be the dark matter (DM), it can also give rise to the necessary critical boundary at the TeV scale through its Yukawa couplings to the Higgs. We use a higgsino-like singlet-doublet model to illustrate our Higgs-DM criticality scenario and show that if this WIMP DM mass is observed to be greater than ~1.2 TeV then it necessarily implies a strong bound on the Higgs mass and an upper bound on the scale of heavy new physics that restores vacuum stability. It can be thoroughly probed in direct detection experiments, astrophysical signals and future collider searches, further motivating a comprehensive exploration of the remaining heavy WIMP parameter space.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2025

Vacuum Metastability from Axion-Higgs Criticality

Self-organised criticality, realised through cosmological dynamics in the early universe, is an alternative paradigm for addressing the electroweak hierarchy problem. In this scenario, an unnaturally light Higgs boson is the result of dynamics driving the electroweak vacuum towards a near-critical metastable point where the Higgs mass is bounded from above by the vacuum instability scale. To lower the vacuum instability scale close to the weak scale, previous realisations of this mechanism introduced new vector-like fermions coupled to the Higgs. Here we show that an Axion-Like Particle (ALP) coupling to the Higgs is an alternative possibility for achieving criticality with another well-motivated and naturally light candidate for new physics, thus leading to an entirely different set of testable phenomenological signatures. Our Axion-Higgs criticality model predicts an ALP in the MeV to $\mathcal{O}(10)$ GeV range. The entire natural region of parameter space can be thoroughly explored by a combination of future colliders, flavour experiments, and cosmological observatories.

hep-ph↗

arXiv2025

Higgs Criticality and the Metastability Bound: a target for future colliders

New physics at the TeV scale or lower may destabilise the electroweak vacuum. How low could the vacuum instability scale be? This fundamental question may be tied to a deeper understanding of the Higgs potential and its associated hierarchy problem. The scale of vacuum instability can be viewed as an upper bound on the Higgs mass-the so-called vacuum metastability bound-and criticality of the Higgs potential through some underlying mechanism then places our universe at this metastable point. In this report, we summarise recent work developing this eminently testable hypothesis. If the vacuum metastability bound plays a role in determining the properties of the Higgs boson, the new physics responsible will likely be discovered or excluded in the entire natural region of parameter space at future facilities. This makes it a tantalising and attractive target for future colliders.

hep-ph↗