Abstract
We consider theories in which a dark sector is described by a Conformal Field Theory (CFT) over a broad range of energy scales. A coupling of the dark sector to the Standard Model breaks conformal invariance. While weak at high energies, the breaking grows in the infrared, and at a certain energy scale the theory enters a confined (hadronic) phase. One of the hadronic excitations can play the role of dark matter. We study a “Conformal Freeze-In” cosmological scenario, in which the dark sector is populated through its interactions with the SM at temperatures when it is conformal. In this scenario, the dark matter relic density is determined by the CFT data, such as the dimension of the CFT operator coupled to the Standard Model. We show that this simple and highly predictive model of dark matter is phenomenologically viable. The observed relic density is reproduced for a variety of SM operators (“portals”) coupled to the CFT, and the resulting models are consistent with observational constraints. The mass of the COFI dark matter candidate is predicted to be in the keV-MeV range.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
K.R. Dienes and B. Thomas, More is Different: Non-Minimal Dark Sectors and their Implications for Particle Physics, Astrophysics, and Cosmology — 13 Take-Away Lessons for Snowmass 2021, in 2022 Snowmass Summer Study, Seattle U.S.A., July 17–26 2022 [arXiv:2203.17258] [INSPIRE].
R. Essig et al., Working Group Report: New Light Weakly Coupled Particles, in Community Summer Study 2013: Snowmass on the Mississippi, Minneapolis U.S.A., July 29–August 6 2013 [arXiv:1311.0029] [INSPIRE].
P. Di Francesco, P. Mathieu and D. Sénéchal, Conformal Field Theory, Graduate Texts in Contemporary Physics, Springer-Verlag, New York, U.S.A. (1997) [DOI] [INSPIRE].
P.H. Ginsparg, Applied Conformal Field Theory, in Les Houches Summer School in Theoretical Physics: Fields, Strings, Critical Phenomena Les Houches France, June 28–August 5 1988 [hep-th/9108028] [INSPIRE].
S. Rychkov, EPFL Lectures on Conformal Field Theory in D ≥ 3 Dimensions, SpringerBriefs in Physics (2016) [DOI] [arXiv:1601.05000] [INSPIRE].
M. Redi, A. Tesi and H. Tillim, Gravitational Production of a Conformal Dark Sector, JHEP 05 (2021) 010 [arXiv:2011.10565] [INSPIRE].
W.H. Chiu, S. Hong and L.-T. Wang, Conformal Freeze-In, Composite Dark Photon, and Asymmetric Reheating, arXiv:2209.10563 [INSPIRE].
S. Hong, G. Kurup and M. Perelstein, Conformal Freeze-In of Dark Matter, Phys. Rev. D 101 (2020) 095037 [arXiv:1910.10160] [INSPIRE].
W.H. Chiu, S. Hong and L.-T. Wang, Conformal Freeze-In, Composite Dark Photon, and Asymmetric Reheating, arXiv:2209.10563 [INSPIRE].
J.A. Cabrer, G. von Gersdorff and M. Quiros, Soft-Wall Stabilization, New J. Phys. 12 (2010) 075012 [arXiv:0907.5361] [INSPIRE].
C. Csáki, S. Hong, G. Kurup, S.J. Lee, M. Perelstein and W. Xue, Continuum dark matter, Phys. Rev. D 105 (2022) 035025 [arXiv:2105.07035] [INSPIRE].
C. Csáki, S. Hong, G. Kurup, S.J. Lee, M. Perelstein and W. Xue, Z-Portal Continuum Dark Matter, Phys. Rev. Lett. 128 (2022) 081807 [arXiv:2105.14023] [INSPIRE].
M. Markevitch et al., Direct constraints on the dark matter self-interaction cross-section from the merging galaxy cluster 1E0657-56, Astrophys. J. 606 (2004) 819 [astro-ph/0309303] [INSPIRE].
T. Lin, Dark matter models and direct detection, PoS 333 (2019) 009 [arXiv:1904.07915] [INSPIRE].
M. Frigerio, A. Pomarol, F. Riva and A. Urbano, Composite Scalar Dark Matter, JHEP 07 (2012) 015 [arXiv:1204.2808] [INSPIRE].
Y. Hochberg, E. Kuflik, H. Murayama, T. Volansky and J.G. Wacker, Model for Thermal Relic Dark Matter of Strongly Interacting Massive Particles, Phys. Rev. Lett. 115 (2015) 021301 [arXiv:1411.3727] [INSPIRE].
W.E. Caswell, Asymptotic Behavior of Nonabelian Gauge Theories to Two Loop Order, Phys. Rev. Lett. 33 (1974) 244 [INSPIRE].
T. Banks and A. Zaks, On the Phase Structure of Vector-Like Gauge Theories with Massless Fermions, Nucl. Phys. B 196 (1982) 189 [INSPIRE].
H. Georgi, Unparticle physics, Phys. Rev. Lett. 98 (2007) 221601 [hep-ph/0703260] [INSPIRE].
B. Grinstein, K.A. Intriligator and I.Z. Rothstein, Comments on Unparticles, Phys. Lett. B 662 (2008) 367 [arXiv:0801.1140] [INSPIRE].
M. Redi and A. Tesi, General freeze-in and freeze-out, JHEP 12 (2021) 060 [arXiv:2107.14801] [INSPIRE].
L.J. Hall, K. Jedamzik, J. March-Russell and S.M. West, Freeze-In Production of FIMP Dark Matter, JHEP 03 (2010) 080 [arXiv:0911.1120] [INSPIRE].
V. Iršič et al., New Constraints on the free-streaming of warm dark matter from intermediate and small scale Lyman-α forest data, Phys. Rev. D 96 (2017) 023522 [arXiv:1702.01764] [INSPIRE].
D. Egana-Ugrinovic, R. Essig, D. Gift and M. LoVerde, The Cosmological Evolution of Self-interacting Dark Matter, JCAP 05 (2021) 013 [arXiv:2102.06215] [INSPIRE].
E. Hardy and R. Lasenby, Stellar cooling bounds on new light particles: plasma mixing effects, JHEP 02 (2017) 033 [arXiv:1611.05852] [INSPIRE].
F. Bishara, J. Brod, B. Grinstein and J. Zupan, From quarks to nucleons in dark matter direct detection, JHEP 11 (2017) 059 [arXiv:1707.06998] [INSPIRE].
J. Hisano, Effective theory approach to direct detection of dark matter, arXiv:1712.02947 [INSPIRE].
Stars as laboratories for fundamental physics: the astrophysics of neutrinos, axions, and other weakly interacting particles, Choice Reviews Online 34 (1996) 34.
H. Davoudiasl, Constraining Unparticle Physics with Cosmology and Astrophysics, Phys. Rev. Lett. 99 (2007) 141301 [arXiv:0705.3636] [INSPIRE].
J.F. Gunion, H.E. Haber, G.L. Kane and S. Dawson, The Higgs Hunter’s Guide, CRC Press (2000) [ISBN: 9780738203058].
R.V. Harlander and T. Neumann, Probing the nature of the Higgs-gluon coupling, Phys. Rev. D 88 (2013) 074015 [arXiv:1308.2225] [INSPIRE].
D. Poland, S. Rychkov and A. Vichi, The Conformal Bootstrap: Theory, Numerical Techniques, and Applications, Rev. Mod. Phys. 91 (2019) 015002 [arXiv:1805.04405] [INSPIRE].
D. Poland, D. Simmons-Duffin and A. Vichi, Carving Out the Space of 4D CFTs, JHEP 05 (2012) 110 [arXiv:1109.5176] [INSPIRE].
H.K. Dreiner, J.-F. Fortin, C. Hanhart and L. Ubaldi, Supernova constraints on MeV dark sectors from e+e− annihilations, Phys. Rev. D 89 (2014) 105015 [arXiv:1310.3826] [INSPIRE].
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Publisher’s Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
ArXiv ePrint: 2207.10093
Rights and permissions
Open Access . This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC-BY 4.0), which permits any use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author(s) and source are credited.
About this article
Cite this article
Hong, S., Kurup, G. & Perelstein, M. Dark matter from a conformal Dark Sector. J. High Energ. Phys. 2023, 221 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/JHEP02(2023)221
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/JHEP02(2023)221