Bounds on long-lived charged massive particles from Big Bang nucleosynthesis

The Big Bang nucleosynthesis (BBN) in the presence of charged massive particles (CHAMPs) is studied in detail. All currently known effects due to the existence of bound states between CHAMPs and nuclei, including possible late-time destruction of Li6 and Li7 are included. The study sets conservative bounds on CHAMP abundances in the decay time range 3x10^2 sec - 10^12 sec. It is stressed that the production of Li6 at early times T ~ 10keV is overestimated by a factor ~ 10 when the approximation of the Saha equation for the He4 bound state fraction is utilised. To obtain conservative limits on the abundance of CHAMPs, a Monte-Carlo analysis with ~ 3x10^6 independent BBN runs, varying reaction rates of nineteen different reactions, is performed (see attached erratum, however). The analysis yields the surprising result that except for small areas in the particle parameter space conservative constraints on the abundance of decaying charged particles are currently very close to those of neutral particles. It is shown that, in case a number of heretofore unconsidered reactions may be determined reliably in future, it is conceivable that the limit on CHAMPs in the early Universe could be tightened by orders of magnitude. An ERRATUM gives limits on primordial CHAMP densities when the by Ref. Kamimura et al. recently more accurately determined CHAMP reaction rates are employed.Comment: includes Erratum showing most up to date limits after determination of the most important reaction rate

Bound-State Effects on Light-Element Abundances in Gravitino Dark Matter Scenarios

If the gravitino is the lightest supersymmetric particle and the long-lived next-to-lightest sparticle (NSP) is the stau, the charged partner of the tau lepton, it may be metastable and form bound states with several nuclei. These bound states may affect the cosmological abundances of Li6 and Li7 by enhancing nuclear rates that would otherwise be strongly suppressed. We consider the effects of these enhanced rates on the final abundances produced in Big-Bang nucleosynthesis (BBN), including injections of both electromagnetic and hadronic energy during and after BBN. We calculate the dominant two- and three-body decays of both neutralino and stau NSPs, and model the electromagnetic and hadronic decay products using the PYTHIA event generator and a cascade equation. Generically, the introduction of bound states drives light element abundances further from their observed values; however, for small regions of parameter space bound state effects can bring lithium abundances in particular in better accord with observations. We show that in regions where the stau is the NSP with a lifetime longer than 10^3-10^4 s, the abundances of Li6 and Li7 are far in excess of those allowed by observations. For shorter lifetimes of order 1000 s, we comment on the possibility in minimal supersymmetric and supergravity models that stau decays could reduce the Li7 abundance from standard BBN values while at the same time enhancing the Li6 abundance.Comment: 22 pages 6 figure

Flaxino dark matter and stau decay

If the spontaneous breaking of Peccei-Quinn symmetry comes from soft supersymmetry breaking, the fermionic partners of the symmetry-breaking fields have mass of order the gravitino mass, and are called flatinos. The lightest flatino, called here the flaxino, is a CDM candidate if it is the lightest supersymmetric particle. We here explore flaxino dark matter assuming that the lightest ordinary supersymmetric particle is the stau, with gravity-mediated supersymmetry breaking. The decay of the stau to the flaxino is fast enough not to spoil the standard predictions of Big Bang Nucleosynthesis, and its track and decay can be seen in future colliders.Comment: 9 pages, 4 figures, to appear in JHE

Graviton Cosmology in Universal Extra Dimensions

In models of universal extra dimensions, gravity and all standard model fields propagate in the extra dimensions. Previous studies of such models have concentrated on the Kaluza-Klein (KK) partners of standard model particles. Here we determine the properties of the KK gravitons and explore their cosmological implications. We find the lifetimes of decays to KK gravitons, of relevance for the viability of KK gravitons as dark matter. We then discuss the primordial production of KK gravitons after reheating. The existence of a tower of KK graviton states makes such production extremely efficient: for reheat temperature T_RH and d extra dimensions, the energy density stored in gravitons scales as T_RH^{2+3d/2}. Overclosure and Big Bang nucleosynthesis therefore stringently constrain T_RH in all universal extra dimension scenarios. At the same time, there is a window of reheat temperatures low enough to avoid these constraints and high enough to generate the desired thermal relic density for KK WIMP and superWIMP dark matter.Comment: 19 pages, 1 figur

Dark matter with invisible light from heavy double charged leptons of almost-commutative geometry?

A new candidate of cold dark matter arises by a novel elementary particle model: the almostcommutative AC-geometrical framework. Two heavy leptons are added to the Standard Model, each one sharing a double opposite electric charge and an own lepton flavor number The novel mathematical theory of almost-commutative geometry [1] wishes to unify gauge models with gravity. In this scenario two new heavy (m_L>100GeV), oppositely double charged leptons (A,C),(A with charge -2 and C with charge +2), are born with no twin quark companions. The model naturally involves a new U(1) gauge interaction, possessed only by the AC-leptons and providing a Coulomblike attraction between them. AC-leptons posses electro-magnetic as well as Z-boson interaction and, according to the charge chosen for the new U(1) gauge interaction, a new "invisible light" interaction. Their final cosmic relics are bounded into "neutral" stable atoms (AC) forming the mysterious cold dark matter, in the spirit of the Glashow's Sinister model. An (AC) state is reached in the early Universe along a tail of a few secondary frozen exotic components. They should be now here somehow hidden in the surrounding matter. The two main secondary manifest relics are C (mostly hidden in a neutral (Cee) "anomalous helium" atom, at a 10-8 ratio) and a corresponding "ion" A bounded with an ordinary helium ion (4He); indeed the positive helium ions are able to attract and capture the free A fixing them into a neutral relic cage that has nuclear interaction (4HeA).Comment: This paper has been merged with [astro-ph/0603187] for publication in Classical and Quantum Gravit

Single-field inflation, anomalous enhancement of superhorizon fluctuations, and non-Gaussianity in primordial black hole formation

We show a text-book potential for single-field inflation, namely, the Coleman-Weinberg model can induce double inflation and formation of primordial black holes (PBHs), because fluctuations that leave the horizon near the end of first inflation are anomalously enhanced at the onset of second inflation when the time-dependent mode turns to a growing mode rather than a decaying mode. The mass of PBHs produced in this mechanism lies in several discrete ranges depending on the model parameters. We also calculate the effects of non-Gaussian statistics due to higher-order interactions on the abundance of PBHs, which turns out to be small.Comment: 22pages, 8figure

Dark Matter from Gaugino Mediation.

We study dark matter for gaugino-mediated supersymmetry breaking and compact dimensions of order the grand unification scale. Higgs fields are bulk fields, and in general their masses differ from those of squarks and sleptons at the unification scale. As a consequence, at different points in parameter space, the gravitino, a neutralino or a scalar lepton can be the lightest (LSP) or next-to-lightest (NLSP) superparticle. We investigate the constraints from primordial nucleosynthesis on the different scenarios. While neutralino and gravitino dark matter with a sneutrino NLSP are consistent for a wide range of parameters, gravitino dark matter with a stau NLSP is strongly constrained.Comment: 18 pages, updated to published version (minor modifications, reference added