Communication with SIMP dark mesons via Z'-portal

We consider a consistent extension of the SIMP models with dark mesons by including a dark U(1)_D gauge symmetry. Dark matter density is determined by a thermal freeze-out of the $3\to2$ self-annihilation process, thanks to the Wess-Zumino-Witten term. In the presence of a gauge kinetic mixing between the dark photon and the SM hypercharge gauge boson, dark mesons can undergo a sufficient scattering off the Standard Model particles and keep in kinetic equilibrium until freeze-out in this SIMP scenario. Taking the SU(N_f)xSU(N_f)/SU(N_f) flavor symmetry under the SU(N_c) confining group, we show how much complementary the SIMP constraints on the parameters of the dark photon are for current experimental searches for dark photon.Comment: 16 pages, 6 figures, To appear in Phys. Lett.

SIMP dark matter and its cosmic abundances

We give a review on the thermal average of the annihilation cross-sections for $3\rightarrow 2$ and general higher-order processes. Thermal average of higher order annihilations highly depend on the velocity of dark matter, especially, for the case with resonance poles. We show such examples for scalar dark matter in gauged $Z_3$ models.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures, Prepared for the proceedings of the 13th International Conference on Gravitation, 3-7 July 201

Cosmic abundances of SIMP dark matter

Thermal production of light dark matter with sub-GeV scale mass can be attributed to $3\rightarrow 2$ self-annihilation processes. We consider the thermal average for annihilation cross sections of dark matter at $3\rightarrow 2$ and general higher-order interactions. A correct thermal average for initial dark matter particles is important, in particular, for annihilation cross sections with overall velocity dependence and/or resonance poles. We apply our general results to benchmark models for SIMP dark matter and discuss the effects of the resonance pole in determining the relic density.Comment: 21 pages, 6 figures, Version to appear in Journal of High Energy Physic

Consistency relations in multi-field inflation

We study the consequences of spatial coordinate transformation in multi-field inflation. Among the spontaneously broken de Sitter isometries, only dilatation in the comoving gauge preserves the form of the metric and thus results in quantum-protected Slavnov-Taylor identities. We derive the corresponding consistency relations between correlation functions of cosmological perturbations in two different ways, by the connected and one-particle-irreducible Green's functions. The lowest-order consistency relations are explicitly given, and we find that even in multi-field inflation the consistency relations in the soft limit are independent of the detail of the matter sector.Comment: 24 pages, version to appear in JCA

Peccei-Quinn invariant singlet extended SUSY with anomalous U(1) gauge symmetry

Recent discovery of the SM-like Higgs boson with $m_h\simeq 125$ GeV motivates an extension of the minimal supersymmetric standard model (MSSM), which involves a singlet Higgs superfield with a sizable Yukawa coupling to the doublet Higgs superfields. We examine such singlet-extended SUSY models with a Peccei-Quinn (PQ) symmetry that originates from an anomalous $U(1)_A$ gauge symmetry. We focus on the specific scheme that the PQ symmetry is spontaneously broken at an intermediate scale $v_{\rm PQ}\sim \sqrt{m_{\rm SUSY}M_{\rm Pl}}$ by an interplay between Planck scale suppressed operators and tachyonic soft scalar mass $m_{\rm SUSY}\sim \sqrt{D_A}$ induced dominantly by the $U(1)_A$ $D$-term, $D_A$. This scheme also results in spontaneous SUSY breaking in the PQ sector, generating the gaugino masses $M_{1/2}\sim \sqrt{D_A}$ when it is transmitted to the MSSM sector by the conventional gauge mediation mechanism. As a result, the MSSM soft parameters in this scheme are induced mostly by the $U(1)_A$ $D$-term and the gauge mediated SUSY breaking from the PQ sector, so that the sparticle masses can be near the present experimental bounds without causing the SUSY flavor problem. The scheme is severely constrained by the condition that a phenomenologically viable form of the low energy operators of the singlet and doublet Higgs superfields is generated by the PQ breaking sector in a way similar to the Kim-Nilles solution of the $\mu$ problem, and the resulting Higgs mass parameters allow the electroweak symmetry breaking with small $\tan\beta$. We find two minimal models with two singlet Higgs superfields, satisfying this condition with a relatively simple form of the PQ breaking sector, and briefly discuss some phenomenological aspects of the model.Comment: 30 pages, 2 tables, references added, version published in JHE

Quantum non-linear evolution of inflationary tensor perturbations

We study the quantum mechanical evolution of the tensor perturbations during inflation with non-linear tensor interactions. We first obtain the Lindblad terms generated by non-linear interactions by tracing out unobservable sub-horizon modes. Then we calculate explicitly the reduced density matrix for the super-horizon modes, and show that the probability of maintaining the unitarity of the squeezed state decreases in time. The decreased probability is transferred to other elements of the reduced density matrix including off-diagonal ones, so the evolution of the reduced density matrix describes the quantum-to-classical transition of the tensor perturbations. This is different from the classicality accomplished by the squeezed state, the suppression of the non-commutative effect, which is originated from the quadratic, linear interaction, and also maintains the unitarity. The quantum-to-classical transition occurs within 5 - 10 e-folds, faster than the curvature perturbation.Comment: (v1) 39 pages, (v2) typos corrected, to be published in Journal of High Energy Physic