Dark Revelations of the [SU(3)]3[SU(3)]^3 and [SU(3)]4[SU(3)]^4 Gauge Extensions of the Standard Model

Two theoretically well-motivated gauge extensions of the standard model are $SU(3)_C \times SU(3)_L \times SU(3)_R$ and $SU(3)_q \times SU(3)_L \times SU(3)_l \times SU(3)_R$, where $SU(3)_q$ is the same as $SU(3)_C$ and $SU(3)_l$ is its color leptonic counterpart. Each as three variations, according to how $SU(3)_R$ is broken. It is shown here for the first time that a built-in dark $U(1)_D$ gauge symmetry exists in all six versions, and may be broken to discrete $Z_2$ dark parity. The available dark matter candidates in each case include fermions, scalars, as well as {\it vector gauge bosons}. This work points to the unity of matter with dark matter, the origin of which is not {\it ad hoc}.Comment: 12 pages, no figur

Neutron Stars with Baryon Number Violation, Probing Dark Sectors

The neutron lifetime anomaly has been used to motivate the introduction of new physics with hidden-sector particles coupled to baryon number, and on which neutron stars provide powerful constraints. Although the neutron lifetime anomaly may eventually prove to be of mundane origin, we use it as motivation for a broader review of the ways that baryon number violation, be it real or apparent, and dark sectors can intertwine and how neutron star observables, both present and future, can constrain them