14 research outputs found
Nearly Supersymmetric Dark Atoms
Theories of dark matter that support bound states are an intriguing
possibility for the identity of the missing mass of the Universe. This article
proposes a class of models of supersymmetric composite dark matter where the
interactions with the Standard Model communicate supersymmetry breaking to the
dark sector. In these models supersymmetry breaking can be treated as a
perturbation on the spectrum of bound states. Using a general formalism, the
spectrum with leading supersymmetry effects is computed without specifying the
details of the binding dynamics. The interactions of the composite states with
the Standard Model are computed and several benchmark models are described.
General features of non-relativistic supersymmetric bound states are
emphasized.Comment: 39 pages, 2 figure
(Small) Resonant non-Gaussianities: Signatures of a Discrete Shift Symmetry in the Effective Field Theory of Inflation
We apply the Effective Field Theory of Inflation to study the case where the
continuous shift symmetry of the Goldstone boson \pi is softly broken to a
discrete subgroup. This case includes and generalizes recently proposed String
Theory inspired models of Inflation based on Axion Monodromy. The models we
study have the property that the 2-point function oscillates as a function of
the wavenumber, leading to oscillations in the CMB power spectrum. The
non-linear realization of time diffeomorphisms induces some self-interactions
for the Goldstone boson that lead to a peculiar non-Gaussianity whose shape
oscillates as a function of the wavenumber. We find that in the regime of
validity of the effective theory, the oscillatory signal contained in the
n-point correlation functions, with n>2, is smaller than the one contained in
the 2-point function, implying that the signature of oscillations, if ever
detected, will be easier to find first in the 2-point function, and only then
in the higher order correlation functions. Still the signal contained in
higher-order correlation functions, that we study here in generality, could be
detected at a subleading level, providing a very compelling consistency check
for an approximate discrete shift symmetry being realized during inflation.Comment: v2 minor revisions; 39 pages, 5 figure
Composite Inelastic Dark Matter
Peaking consistently in June for nearly eleven years, the annual modulation
signal reported by DAMA/NaI and DAMA/LIBRA offers strong evidence for the
identity of dark matter. DAMA's signal strongly suggest that dark matter
inelastically scatters into an excited state split by O(100 keV). We propose
that DAMA is observing hyperfine transitions of a composite dark matter
particle. As an example, we consider a meson of a QCD-like sector, built out of
constituent fermions whose spin-spin interactions break the degeneracy of the
ground state. An axially coupled U(1) gauge boson that mixes kinetically with
hypercharge induces inelastic hyperfine transitions of the meson dark matter
that can explain the DAMA signal.Comment: 5 pages (two-column), 1 figure, revised version, references adde
The Cosmology of Composite Inelastic Dark Matter
Composite dark matter is a natural setting for implementing inelastic dark
matter - the O(100 keV) mass splitting arises from spin-spin interactions of
constituent fermions. In models where the constituents are charged under an
axial U(1) gauge symmetry that also couples to the Standard Model quarks, dark
matter scatters inelastically off Standard Model nuclei and can explain the
DAMA/LIBRA annual modulation signal. This article describes the early Universe
cosmology of a minimal implementation of a composite inelastic dark matter
model where the dark matter is a meson composed of a light and a heavy quark.
The synthesis of the constituent quarks into dark mesons and baryons results in
several qualitatively different configurations of the resulting dark matter
hadrons depending on the relative mass scales in the system.Comment: 31 pages, 4 figures; references added, typos correcte